Children stranded as school bus not running

For more than two weeks, the school bus service for the students of Killinkere NS has been interrupted.

Parents received a short email last Friday to inform them of the stoppage for the foreseeable future. “Bus Éireann has endeavoured to cover the service by contacting contractors and, as there is shortage of available vehicles and drivers, I confirm the service is unable to operate”, the message said.

The communication from the state school transport provider came “far too late”, says local Anna Carolan who has two children affected by the termination of service. Together, with neighbouring families, they managed to juggle the drop-off and pick-up times of the children, but the same email landed in their inboxes again, informing them of another week without bus service. What frustrates parents is they say this has happened several times this year already, sometimes with half an hour’s notice before the scheduled bus pick-up time. Anna finds it hard to believe that there are no relief drivers or an alternative plan in place by Bus Éireann.

"Parents and school staff are understandably frustrated, with no clear updates provided on when the service might resume or what alternative arrangements are being considered,” said Cllr T.P. O’Reilly, who finds the whole situation “more than disappointing”.

He has been trying to get answers from Bus Éireann on the current matter, but is painfully aware that this has been an underlying problem for years. “The system in place is not working. All councillors have brought motions to Cavan Council to help resolve this issue.” Due to the lack of back-up personnel, any driver dropping out immediately creates a shutdown of their particular route. Councillor

Cllr O’Reilly continued: “While I acknowledge the challenges in sourcing vetted drivers and suitable vehicles, this is a vital service that families in the area depend on.”

Principal Mary Brady and the school’s Board of Management have been in touch with Bus Éireann as well and are trying to resolve the situation, which they hope will happen sooner rather than later.

Bus Éireann has not responded to the Celt’s request for a comment.