The people of north Cork call on the government to subsidise the school bus service in rural Ireland.
One of the challenges facing many parents living in rural Ireland is getting their children to school.
The North Cork Parent's Association are currently funding a school bus service to alleviate financial hardship on families. The group are anxious to emphasise the importance of access to education for all children in rural Ireland. They are now calling on the government to provide a subsidy to keep the service on the road.
Many of the rural children would be without an education if the government doesn't help out.
For the past 12 months, the association has been underwriting the cost of running three school buses taking 120 children to schools within an area of 30 miles from Kanturk in County Cork. The cost is around £30 a week for each bus and 12 shillings a week as fare for each child. This has placed a real strain on family incomes. The North Cork Parent's Association is now making a visit to the Minister for Education in a last ditch attempt to keep the service operating.
They are faced with a mounting debt and rising bus fares which they can't afford.
One of the operators of the three buses says that the North Cork Parent's Association is not in a position to pay for the service. The buses have so far been kept on the road as a result of fundraising by the association through dances, raffles and draws. However, the association are still in debt and face rising costs with the news that bus fares must be increased.
CIÉs quote for a similar service is almost 250% higher than that provided by the private company who now say that it is no longer financially viable for them to continue. The North Cork Parent's Association wants to keep the service. The alternative is that many of the boys and girls will have to cycle as much as 30 miles to school in all weather. Parents fear that this will act as a deterrent for children to attend school.
There'll be no possible chance of education for my child.
Denis Fitzpatrick, President of the North Cork Parent's Association outlines the need for a government subsidy to keep the fares as they are. He says that at present there are about 10 children cycling about eight miles to school. As the government plans to increase the school leaving age to 15, Denis Fitzpatrick believes that it is the government's duty to provide free school transport for every child in the country. If a government subsidy is not forthcoming, two of the three buses will be taken off the road.
This episode of 'Newsbeat' was broadcast on 2 November 1966. The reporter is Bill O'Herlihy.
