Parents fear accident on busy Carr’s Hill footpath

“I'm not exaggerating. There is a real concern that somebody could get killed walking to or from school on that path.”

The words of Cork parent, Ciarán Hegarty, who is on the hunt for answers as to why his two young children must use what he believes is an unsafe footpath to get to and from school everyday while a perfectly safe pedestrian and cycle path remains locked to the public.

Mr Hegarty’s two sons attend Douglas Rochestown Educate Together National School on Carr’s Hill in Cork city.

The school is located on a busy road with one narrow footpath just wide enough to fit two people walking abreast, Mr Hegarty told the Cork Independent.

Meanwhile, a pedestrian and cycle path around the back of the school built to offer a safe alternative for pupils and parents remains closed. Mr Hegarty believes the path has been completed and ready to use since November.

“Every morning I turn the corner hoping to see the barriers down and every morning they're still there,” he said.

“It's taken three months to get a gate open. Actually, the only work I've noticed being done on the path over the last three months is that they've made the barriers more secure. We're going backwards.

“The small fella has asked me to stop giving out about it,” added Mr Hegarty. With the narrow path thronged with kids every morning and afternoon home time, Mr Hegarty fears a terrible accident will happen before the pedestrian path is opened to the public.

He said: “The small fella likes to pet dogs. One morning a dog made a sudden movement, and he jumped back. My heart was up in my mouth when I saw it happen because he wasn't watching the traffic.”

“One morning there was a lady coming down towards us with a pram and there was a bus coming behind her. We had to stand in and I had to gesture to her to stand in as well because I don't think she knew there was a big vehicle coming behind her. The wing mirror was quite close to her head,” he added.

Mr Hegarty stressed, however, that drivers on the road and from the nearby construction site, are aware of the dangers and are extremely careful.

As far as Mr Hegarty is aware, the only outstanding work to be done on the pedestrian and cycle path is to hook up the lights, but he feels lights are not necessary for school-goers.

“If that's the excuse, I'm going to march on City Hall,” he said.

“It would be safer to walk along that path in pitch darkness than it is on the footpath.”

Mr Hegarty is calling on the Department of Education and Cork City Council to do whatever it takes to open the pedestrian and cycle path as soon as possible.

The Cork Independent reached out to Cork City Council for comment on the issue but none was received by time of print.