Young people report on the dangers posed by trucks using Ballyfermot as a short cut.
In the 'Private Eye' segment of the young people's television series 'Echo Island', reporters Stephen and Darren, with cameraman Andrew, highlight the problem of trucks in the Dublin suburb of Ballyfermot.
On a Thursday morning, in a space of 20 minutes, Darren counts 15 lorries. A lollipop lady outside De La Salle National School thinks 15 - 20 trucks is a good day. Another day it could be as many as 60 trucks on the road. She believes the situation is very dangerous.
As well as the dangers hauliers pose to pedestrians and cyclists,
The noise mostly affects me because I live just around the corner from one of the main roads in Ballyfermot.
Another resident explains the hauliers coming from the Cherrywood Industrial Estate should use the bypass through Chapelizod. The drivers prefer to take a shortcut through Ballyfermot, breaching the three-tonne weight limit. Truck drivers also break the lights at pedestrian crossings and accidents have happened.
Some people have been hurt so it's time for the drivers to cop on and get out of Ballyfermot.
Protestors in Ballyfermot have organised demonstrations, calling for the enforcement of the weight ban regulations.
This episode of 'Echo Island' was broadcast on 12 March 1996. The presenters are Peter O'Meara and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh.
'Echo Island’ was broadcast on RTÉ Network 2 as part of ‘The Den’. It first aired in September 1994 and concluded in June 1999. The presenters included Dara Ó Briain, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, Alan Hughes, Derek Mooney, Mary Kingston and Carrie Crowley.
