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Parking on the footpath opposite the school gate and parking on double lines at the entrance to The Priory at school times is inconsiderate at best and extremely dangerous at worst. It is also illegal.
It caused a traffic jam today.
Surely anyone collecting their children from school would consider the safety of their children and the other children before parking.
Most people park safely and legally before collecting their children.
And of course lots of people walk to the school.

unfortunately some people are just ignorant, stupid and have no care for others. it's horrible around that school in the morning

same goes for the ignorant people who park up on the path outside educate together, forcing buggies and wheelchairs to go out onto the main and very busy in the morning, beaverstown road.

and also to the people who turn to go into the gate at Educate together, despite it being closed, then abandoning their car to walk in, blocking again buggies and wheelchairs, not to mention the queue of cars that then form behind them, blocking all cars from driving up the Beaverstown road.

some people are just plain stupid.

in the past I did report the dangerous parking outside the national schools but of course nothing was done about it.
We don't have any councillors or wannabe councillors around here with enough teeth to push the issue to a conclusion with the council. sure they will all give lip service and say they'll do something, but no one ever follows through.

wow, that was my Friday rant!

One of life's great ironies that the most dangerous driving and parking habits to be witnessed anywhere takes place around our primary schools. You can bet if the staff in the schools were endangering their children in the same way their driving endangers others that they would be rushing to press charges.

Parking at school run time is not the only danger our children face daily - you should try counting the no of drivers who are texting while driving along the Beaverstown Road after doing the morning school run - I counted 9 the other morning in the space of five minutes, between the lollipop lady at 'The Hand' and the entrance to the ET school.

Aside from the dangers inherent in this behaviour, I fear for my kids when they learn to drive. Given that children learn most from what they observe their parents doing we can look forward to some really scary habits amongst our next generation of motorists: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3WioZcjbys

Maybe with a council election coming this year we might persuade our local candidates to take some positive action.

I have never witnessed parking on the footpath outside educate together, I do believe they have very strict rules on parking and I've seen their parents council out monitoring the parking around the school. I attempted to visit a friend who lives in carrs mill a few days ago, there seems to be a lot of parents from boys/girls school parking in carrs mill no thought to the residents in there trying to exit their homes. Is walking to school a thing of the past???

beaverstown road is an accident waiting to happen, I live in the area and every day there a problem, footpath blocked, cars parked (abandoned maybe more appropriate term)at entrance to beaverstown orchard, selfish dangerous behaviour. I'll certainly be raising it at door when potential councillors call

gla wrote:beaverstown road is an accident waiting to happen, I live in the area and every day there a problem, footpath blocked, cars parked (abandoned maybe more appropriate term)at entrance to beaverstown orchard, selfish dangerous behaviour. I'll certainly be raising it at door when potential councillors call

you're right. cars there are just abandoned.
absolutely no point in raising it with the councillors/potential councillors as they will just pay lip service, maybe bring it up one and never raise it again. yes i know i'm labelling them all with the same brush but i'm just going on past experiences.

on that note, anyone know why the two most recent Donabate/Portrane candidates are running for Fianna Fail? I'm guessing they mustn't want to get elected.

I use the crossing at Beaverstown Orchard twice a day and bar one jeep I've never seen a car up on the footpath there or parked along the Beaverstown Road?

That drop-off at the ET looks victorian though. Wet and cold staff acting as traffic wardens for parents in warm and dry cars. Isn't the ET supposed to be all about equality? And how do they keep their green flag if children walk NO steps to school?

its the spot just beyond where the ponies are in the field.
out of 5 times walking there last week for example, a car was parked there, up on the path, on two occasions.

it meant having to go to the left of the car onto the sludgy grass which is very difficult with a buggy.

another problem I notice there is traffic backed up on the beaverstown road due to drivers waiting to drive into the gate of ET.

yesterday for example I was walking towards the village at around 3 o clock. On passing the ET, there was a car on the Beaverstown Road indicating to turn into the school but going nowhere.

the resulting back log of traffic behind it went all the way to where the old ET site was.
by the time i had walked down to the end of the traffic queue, no one had moved an inch.

I'm sure 90% of cars in that queue were just trying to get home and not into the school at all.

does anyone know if it is illegal to block a road like that?

I see this regularly

I was one of those stuck behind the ET queue on Beaverstown Road yesterday. I had to get home to take a call for work so was less than impressed. This isn't the first time I've been delayed.

As you said Micropoodle, there was one car at the top of the queue indicating right to turn into ET. However, the driveway was full so there was obviously nowhere to go. Despite this, the driver just sat there. Most of the cars behind her were not turning into ET.

Several cars sounded their horns in frustration and we eventually had to pass on the right side of the road. The person at the top of the queue didn't care that they were causing a tailback.

ET need to take some responsibility here. Parents need to be told not to do this as they are causing inconvenience to local residents.

My kids are in school in Clontarf. The school is in the middle of a housing estate and the principal is very vigilant in making sure that parents don't obstruct the footpath or resident's driveways.

Rant over.

It makes my blood boil, I've been stuck in that queue. Especially on Mondays when parents are picking up after religion class at 4.30. It's the height of ignorance and selfishness.
What drives me mad is not ET. It's the laziness of the spoilt parents. The community centre kindly allows parents to use their car park. It's all of a 3 minute walk to the ET school yard. There's no excuse not to use it.

Ken wrote:ET need to take some responsibility here. Parents need to be told not to do this as they are causing inconvenience to local residents.

ET is not at fault. They are forever banging on at parents not to do this, and other things which can only be described as anti-social behaviour. But they are appealing to a minority of slack-jawed morons and have my sympathies. As said above, Maeve and teachers give of their own time to go out in all weather to try and sorts out these Neanderthals. It's a thankless job.

diggerbarnes wrote:Especially on Mondays when parents are picking up after religion class at 4.30. It's the height of ignorance and selfishness. What drives me mad is not ET. It's the laziness of the spoilt parents.

You hardly expect religious parents to be logical, do you?

I don't know anything about the situation at the ET, but I think this thread is a bit OTT regarding parking at St. Patricks.
There is no car park. There is no drop off point.
So where are people to park? Carrs Mills is generally always full, which I'm sure annoys the residents there. Unless you want to park half a mile from the school, then that's not an option. Walking half a mile in the rain, with a toddler in tow who goes to creche after the school drop would be just daft.
The main road is too narrow to park on. The Priory is next. Over a period of 20 minutes there's loads of cars there in the morning (don't know about after school) and then it's clear again. The traffic will be bad on the main road around the school regardless of where the cars park. It's the only road to and from the school. I've never seen any accidents or road rage or anything dangerous in the morning with motorists. Everyone seems to understand that everyone else is in the same boat.
Walking a couple of miles in the lashing rain isn't an option. Walking a couple of miles on a lovely sunny morning isn't an option either when trying to get to work after the school / creche drop.
If school traffic is causing you delays, then leave home 5 mins earlier and get on with your life, instead of hoping that the pointless complaining will make any difference. Complaining about people who have little option but to park where they park and are just trying to get their kids to school.

holdmycalls wrote:That drop-off at the ET looks victorian though. Wet and cold staff acting as traffic wardens for parents in warm and dry cars. Isn't the ET supposed to be all about equality? And how do they keep their green flag if children walk NO steps to school?

I'm awarding this my "Maddest Comment Of The Month" award.

Parking on The path opposite St. Patrick's, the bus stop, the double yellow lines in The Priory, the corners at the entrance to Carr's Mill. Yes that will make the daily school commute much easier for everybody and much safer for all our children. It's not just parents that drop their children to school that go to work and need to be on time.

the issue isn't about parents parking to drop their kids to school, it is the fact that some are parking dangerously on corners, blocking footpaths and driveways and basically being selfish. Some consideration for the residents who live near the schools would be nice....

revisiting this old chestnut again.....

driving up the beaverstown road today from the village there was a tailback from the entrance to the Educate together right back to where the old educate together site was.

now I don't know how many people in this tailback were waiting to get into the school, but I certainly wasn't.
I also couldn't 'overtake' them as it would have involved 150+ metres of driving on the wrong side of the road.

to top it all off, someone in a people carrier had turned from the road in towards the educate together gate in a people carrier which was jutting out onto the road.
this vehicle wasnt moving as it had nowhere to go.

it resulted in people coming down the beaverstown road towards the village having so slow right down and effectively swerve to avoid hitting this car.

are people really this stupid? i mean seriously?

i was in the queue for 10 minutes.

can anyone tell me whether it is legal or illegal to effectively park on this main road in the way these cars do every single weekday?

it will soon cause an accident because many people take the risk and drive the distance on the wrong side of the road.

i will be approaching the school over this, but I'd still love to know whether or not this is legal?

It's not the schools fault, they arranged access to the community centre's car park but people are too lazy to walk the couple of minutes to the school.

it may not be the schools fault but they should probably send a note/text about it particularly if it is illegal.

i dont yet know if it's illegal though
either way, even if its not breaking the rules of the road, it has got to be classed as dangerous

Fully agree with with your sentiments but the school are constantly on at parents about this. It's like talking to a brick wall I imagine. People are just thick and ignorant.

It has impacted me too several times. There are plenty of side roads along the Beaverstown Road to pull into for a few minutes. There is absolutely no need to block the road in both directions.

I'm pretty sure causing an obstruction on the road is illegal. Next time I'm stuck in it, I'll call Swords Garda station to report it. If enough of us report it, they may do something about it.

How people can think that this is acceptable beggars belief.

Ken wrote:It has impacted me too several times. There are plenty of side roads along the Beaverstown Road to pull into for a few minutes. There is absolutely no need to block the road in both directions.

I'm pretty sure causing an obstruction on the road is illegal. Next time I'm stuck in it, I'll call Swords Garda station to report it. If enough of us report it, they may do something about it.

How people can think that this is acceptable beggars belief.

They pull into the side roads you refer to as well which also impacts entering/exiting Beaverstown road at start and finishing times.
It is lazy on parents part but i do feel the ET could do more.

How could they do more bar standing at the gates with a shot gun saying 'move on'. Everybody, whether they use a car or not gets the same emails and letters home about it. They've manned the gate and drop-off zone but the stupidity and selfishness of so many people is relentless.
Perhaps you are right though. Perhaps they should shut the carpark for a month. But I think I know what would happen when they reopened it.

ive always thought it a bit odd that parents are allowed to drive into the car park anyway. i dont know many schools that allow that particularly when the same entrance is used by a lot of pedestrian children.

when walking along the beaverstown road with a buggy, quite often i see people having to go out onto the road with the buggy because there is a car stopped at the entrance blocking the way through. it's incredibly frustrating to watch. i gave out to a woman a few months back for doing just that. now when i say gave out, i was very polite about it but all i got was a blank stare back.

yes they probably should shut it to all but mobility impaired people.
if people are really stuck there is of course the community centre, a 3 minute walk away, or the village to stop in, a 5 minute walk away.

ive seen people come out of an estate on the beaverstown road, drive to ET and then drive back again.
thats the manner of laziness we are talking about here!

micropoodle wrote:ive always thought it a bit odd that parents are allowed to drive into the car park anyway. i dont know many schools that allow that particularly when the same entrance is used by a lot of pedestrian children.

Parents are not allowed to drive into the car-park - they are driving into the drop-off zone, which shares the gate with the car-park. There is also a separate pedestrian gate provided. I believe the drop-off zone is used as a playground too, which is why the gates remain locked during school hours.

micropoodle wrote: if people are really stuck there is of course the community centre, a 3 minute walk away, or the village to stop in, a 5 minute walk away.

ive seen people come out of an estate on the beaverstown road, drive to ET and then drive back again.
thats the manner of laziness we are talking about here!

ET do regularly communicate with parents, and the problems they describe also include behaviour within the drop-off zone itself. As you obviously know yourself, a large part of problem here is with people's behaviour.

I don't think the layout is well designed either.