AARON KENT
A public meeting was convened in the Woodlands Hotel last Monday week, 21 September, to discuss parking during school-run pick-up and drop-off times, at St. Joseph and St. Benildus Church.
The meeting was convened by Parish Priest Father Liam Power, after negative reaction from parents to a public notice in the church car park, which prohibited the use of the car park by anyone not involved in church activity.
The notification at the car park, which has served as an informal pick up and drop off point for years in an area overcrowded by schools, was criticised online by frustrated parents.
In reply Fr. Power told this newspaper that he was left with no choice but to restrict the use of the car park, as risk audits determined that there was a high probability of serious injury to a child given the volume of traffic and the generally chaotic way cars were using the relatively small space.
The parish priest reiterated throughout that he regretted being forced into the decision and wished that the car park could remain open to the public.
Fr. Power then issued an open invite to those from the area to attend the public meeting.
The meeting brought together about 50 people, including Senior Engineers in the council Paul Johnson and Alan Kirwin, and Councillors Jim D’Arcy, Declan Barry and David Daniels.
For the first half of the meeting, Fr. Power explained the situation and outlined what he believed could be some solutions, the most workable of which being a turning circle in ‘Graves Yard’ (where the circus sets up beside the park) even though this may also struggle with the volume of traffic.
Other more speculative ideas included a river bus.
BACK TO SCHOOL
The second half of the meeting took a bit of a strange turn as Sr. Antoinette Dilworth, Diocesan Advisor for Primary Schools, took a strict approach and encouraged the attendees to find their own solutions.
As she chastised the bemused adults for talking among themselves, each table were required to write down their own ideas for short and longer term fixes. After the prescribed 8-10 minutes had elapsed Sr. Antoinette took a sheet from each group and read the answers into the microphone.
A highlight occurred when Sr. Antoinette was giving instructions to a belligerent table when someone said in a loud stage whisper “she scares me,” which caused about half the room to laugh. The other half joined in when Sr. Antoinette replied, “Oh there is always one in the class.”
After a period of head down and no talking, Sr. Antoinette then called on five volunteers to step forward and form a committee to take on the issue going forward.
“We could be here until midnight,” she said when met with silence and no volunteers.
After a time she sought out any teacher in the room to take on the responsibility. When one unfortunate man was singled out as a teacher, he declined the task saying he was there as a parent and had enough on his plate. To which Sr. Antoinette, said into the microphone “why what have you on your plate?”
Eventually, Councillors Jim D’Arcy and Declan Barry volunteered to be part of committee. They will be joined by three more attendees.
With this, the Church has divested itself of an issue which was not theirs to begin with. In Fr. Power’s explanation he states that the small area serves over 2,000 students. Be it by boat, ‘Graves Yard’ or a functioning shuttle bus, something permanent and intentional will have to be done.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
