2 years on, long-awaited path to Educate Together school is finally open
Douglas Rochestown Educate Together National School opened on January 23, 2023. Just under two years later a path to the school finally opens taking parents and kids off a busy main route.
The wait is finally over for students, parents and staff of Douglas Rochestown Educate Together National School as a dedicated path that has long been built is finally open.
Ever since the primary school opened on Carr’s Hill on January 23, 2023 parents have highlighted the danger of walking students to school along the narrow winding path which skirts the old Carrigaline Road.
The new path, which stretches for a few hundred metres, is a continuation of the greenway in the Mangala on the Southside of the city. Although the school opened two years ago, the path remained closed, much to the frustration and concern of parents.
Speaking to Tripe + Drisheen when the school first opened, parent Marianne McDonald, said, “If I’m walking up holding my child’s hand, anybody who wants to pass me has to step into the road. If anybody wants to push a buggy up, nobody can pass them then, it’s just not wide enough.”
Waiting is something that staff, students and parents of the Educate Together school are used to: previously the school was housed in temporary accommodation in Rochetsown for 10 years until making the moved to a permanent new home in Douglas at the start of 2023.
T+D understands that the new path is currently open from 7am to 3pm and only extends as far as the primary school. Parents were told that the path would open on January 15, but the opening date was pushed back as developers Cairn had not completed their end of the project.
Another benefit of the long-awaited greenway's opening could be that more parents from the 500-strong school opt to walk or cycle, reducing traffic on Carr’s Hill.
According to statistics from the 2022 CSO census, nearly a quarter of children (24%) of the 563,00 primary school aged children in Ireland travelled to school on foot, a fall from 45% in 1986. However, the numbers increased between 2016 and 2022 by 4% to 133,314.
Primary school students who cycled to school increased significantly between 2016 and 2022, up 88%, but overall at 6,500, numbers are still low. More than half 55% of all primary school aged children in Ireland travel to school by car.
