Children 'traumatised' after speeding truck hits kerb at Dunkineely school

A group of schoolchildren narrowly missed being ‘cleaned out’ by a speeding truck in Dunkineely this week.

The truck hit a kerb, just missing the children and parents who were at the pedestrian crossing outside Dunkineely National School.

“The children were left traumatised,” Councillor Niamh Kennedy told a meeting of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee on Friday,

“The lorry came around the road and missed five warning signs from the Council. These children were nearly cleared out of it.”

Councillor Kennedy asked that a Garda presence be at the school. The Killybegs-based public representative said that she has been contacted by several people following the incident.

She said: “People need to report these incidents. If there is no evidence of anything happening, there will be no funding.

“This road is busy. It is the thoroughfare to Killybegs and into Glencolmcille. The parents were back again on Thursday and a truck came through the lights again and drove through. This is a regular occurrence.

“There needs to be more of a push to make people aware of children on the roads. Cars are flying on the road. How often do we hear things like ‘someone will be killed on that road’ and we need to put a focus on this before someone is actually killed.”

Councillor Barry Sweeney said he also had contact from concerned parents.

“This was a very scary incident,” Councillor Sweeney said. “So much of this is down to driver behaviour and you can’t put up enough signs if someone isn’t going to read them. It is such a busy thoroughfare and there are complaints on an ongoing basis.”

Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken said Gardai could liaise with GoSafe van operators and encourage them to locate at the area.

Inspector Seamus McGonigle told the meeting that schools are discussed regularly at meetings of the Donegal Road Safety Working Group.