Three Galway schools added to Safe Routes to School list as national total passes 600
Three Galway schools have been added to the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programme.
Sylane National School in Tuam, Scoil Tuairíní in Moycullen and Scoil Íde in Salthall, Galway city were chosen in Round 5 to join the national initiative. This recent selection brought the national number of schools under the SRTS initiative to over 600.
The programme aims to support students in walking and cycling to school by delivering infrastructure that makes school journeys safer for children and their families.
Schools are brought into the programme in phases.
In collaboration with An Taisce, NTA and Galway’s local authorities, nine schools in Galway City and five in the county have been on the list since the scheme launched in 2021 .
Galway East TD Sean Canney said the inclusion of Sylane National School in this round of the scheme is “excellent news for the pupils, parents, staff and wider community.”
“Safe Routes to School is about making it easier and safer for children to walk, cycle or scoot to school while improving road safety around our schools. I know this will be warmly welcomed locally.”
Galway East TD Albert Dolan added: “By creating a safer environment at the school gate, we are not just keeping our children safe; we are also encouraging lifelong habits of physical activity and helping to reduce congestion in our towns and villages.”
Galway City Councillor Alan Curran told the Irish Independent while the inclusion of Scoil Íde is welcome, it needs to be accelerated.
“We need to accelerate the timeline however on this project and the other Galway schools on the list. The safety of our children should not be demoted behind other less essential interventions on our roads.”
He further added his frustrations over the lack of increased funding in road safety schemes in Budget 2027.
“The safety of our children should not be demoted behind other less essential interventions on our roads. In that, I’m disappointed, but not surprised, that the government did not increase funding for active travel in Mondays budget, which directly affects the local authorities ability to deliver these critical projects.”
“I dont have any faith in the Government to deliver these Active Travel schemes, and Public Transport improvements,” Cllr Curran said.