The establishment of a new bus collection point at the Athlone Town Stadium in Lissywollen for commuting secondary school students from Athlone Community College, Our Lady’s Bower and the Marist College has been deemed a “success”, Cllr Aengus O’Rourke has stated.
Speaking to the Athlone Advertiser, Cllr O’Rourke stated that the decision to change the pick-up location was exclusively an operational matter for Bus Éireann.
“Bus Eireann made the decision to move on safety grounds, the pick-up location on the side of the road in Retreat being unsafe. In fact it was very unsafe and in my view, change was absolutely necessary.
“We are now more than a month into this new arrangement and I am delighted to see that the transition has been very smooth, all the children being well accommodated. It is also wonderful to see the new freedom and relief the move has given to the long beleaguered residents of Retreat,” Cllr O’Rourke said.
The councillor stated that when the change was originally mooted, there were those who voiced their concerns, but in the main, there has been more favourable comment with regard to the new pick-up location.
“As a parent of school going children and as a big supporter of active travel and our greenway I was fully behind the plan. I have been dropping and picking my four children to and from the greenway for the past six years. They use the greenway to get to and from school each day. It is a fabulous facility and is very convenient to all three secondary schools,” Cllr O’Rourke added.
Cllr O’Rourke has witnessed the new Bus Éireann service in action and is of the belief that it is a positive development for the commuting students.
“Even Athlone Town FC, who were vehemently against Bus Eireann using this council owned public car park adjacent to their stadium, have now opened their main gates to the children and are selling sweets, donuts and hot drinks. What a wonderful idea,” Cllr O’Rourke commented.
‘Threatening Calls’
The councillor noted that he received approximately 10 calls during the month of October from those who were vehemently against the revised Bus Éireann pick-up location.
“Certain individuals set about trying to orchestrate a campaign to block this move and they were willing to stop at nothing.
“Personally, I received very threatening calls and messages to my phone. People involved in this ‘no’ campaign made some outrageous claims regarding the safety of students as they walked from the secondary schools to the car park at Lissywollen.
“Bear in mind I had nothing to do with the Bus Éireann decision, but as a parent I supported it. Somehow, this made me a target. This ‘no’ campaign reminded me of the anti-vaccine conspiracy in the Covid-19 days. Outlandish claims, intimidation, exaggeration and scare tactics being used to bully people into their way of thinking.
“In hindsight, I am sorry I didn’t report some of the individuals to the Gardai, the language and threats leaving me cold. The leaders in our community who drove this ‘no’ agenda showed very poor judgement and lacked the kind of qualities required of the positions they hold,” Cllr O’Rourke stated.
Referencing the safety of students, Cllr O’Rourke noted that all the routes to the greenway from the three schools have dedicated, segregated pathways and are well lit with new LED public lights.
“There is even a canopy area at the front of the soccer stadium, so if it rains the children can take cover there. They had no cover on the edge of the road in Retreat.
“I have received many calls from people in the Retreat area who are delighted with the new arrangement, they were never considered by the ‘no’ campaigners.
“Finally, I am very disappointed at those who predicted some kind of deadly dangerous outcome from this change. In fact, it infuriates me. The people who contacted me had little or no experience of using the greenway. They have rarely, if ever, been on the greenway yet were certain that something awful would happen to our children. I have never entertained wild speculation and was not prepared to do so on this occasion either
“As a daily user of the greenway, I would be a hypocrite if I advocated for anything other than for more families and more schoolchildren to use our fabulous facility. I fought hard as a public representative for the money to put it there, I am proud of it, I use it and I will always promote it in a positive way,” Cllr O’Rourke concluded.
