Our road is too dangerous for us to cycle to our school

EDITOR – On behalf of every student of Leap National School we write of the urgent need to do something about speeding traffic on the busy N71 road just outside our school.

For far too long, our school, which is situated in the middle of Leap village, has witnessed some ‘wild’ traffic on this stretch of the N71. 

The speed limit may be 50 km/h, but many drivers don’t obey this speed limit. In fact some drivers behave as if they were on a race track rather than driving through a built up area where there is a church, a graveyard, a church car park, national school, playschool, shop and petrol station, playground, houses and a local road to Glandore all within metres of each other. 

To use these services local people have to cross the busy N71. One of our playgrounds is next to the N71 and from time to time when the ball is kicked, it goes onto the road. The teacher or SNA is dicing with death when retrieving it. 

We recently conducted some random traffic surveys and it is no surprise that many drivers were speeding as they passed our school. 

Plenty of students in the school, who live in the village, walk to school each day. They are risking life and limb and are in danger of being injured because of speeding cars, vans, lorries and buses. 

Sadly none of our students cycle to school, even though that would be so much kinder to the environment and better for the planet, simply because it is too dangerous.

A number of years ago, a child lost his life on this road, and we would rather not have history repeat itself.

The teachers, parents, and board of management have tried to do something about this problem for a number of years, but their calls have all been ignored. 

And so … it is now time for the pupils to speak out! Our school won’t settle until the roads are safe for us and our friends in the village and the local community.

Here are some suggestions: regular garda checkpoints to monitor the speed of drivers going through the village; repainting the lines on the zebra crossings so it’s easier to notice; and a ‘smiley face’ machine that detects the speed of vehicles. 

When a vehicle that is over the speed limit passes, it goes red and has in red letters on it saying ‘Slow Down’ and when under the speed limit it goes green and a smiley face appears saying ‘Thank You’.

We would be very happy if you could publish our letter to help raise some community awareness and to let the politicians, Cork County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) know that we are the voters of the future and we demand that something be done to solve the problem sooner rather than later.

Pupils of 4th, 5th and 6th class,

Leap National School.

Mankind will never control the weather

EDITOR – We, in this country, are obsessed with policies to cut carbon emissions  at the expense of our national herd numbers, and adding further costs and expenses to our own people.

Our country was always most suitable for milk and beef production and it would be shameful to put any restrictions on these well-managed farm enterprises.  

Despite all the plans to tackle climate change, mankind will never control the weather and as we all know it’s in the hands of our creator. 

It’s best for all mankind in these dangerous times, with the risk of a nuclear war in Europe, to turn to God for protection and to keep his laws, like Sunday worship, mass and the sacraments.   

Jeremiah McCarthy,  

Tawnies Grove, 

Clonakilty.

We should prioritise our housing over our transport

EDITOR – This country’s top priority seems to be about building roads and selling cars. If it had the same zeal when it comes to putting a roof over people’s heads we would not have to constantly remind the government of its chronic failure. 

The government’s boast that it has built 30,000  houses so far would barely put a dent in the Dublin housing market, never mind the rest of the country. 

We will never grow this country or see it develop while our young people remain locked out of an elite housing market and forced to throw all their money away on rent. 

Our priorities need realignment to our housing needs, not our transportation ones.       

Maurice Fitzgerald,

Shanbally.

We need swift progress to protect our birds

EDITOR – It has emerged this month that the Department of Heritage may be close to removing threatened birds from the open season order.

The overdue move would help protect some of the country’s most vulnerable amber and red-list birds from the shooters who find fun in blasting them out of the sky.

The two options being considered are the removal from the open season order of 13 species (red grouse, mallard, teal, gadwall, wigeon, pintail, shoveler, scaup, tufted duck, pochard, goldeneye, golden plover, snipe) or the removal of just seven  species along with a shortening of the open season for golden plover/snipe/jack snipe.

Regarding the latter, merely curtailing the killing is not good enough and it is inconceivable that any further persecution of golden plover or snipe would be permitted. 

Both are red-list species of highest conservation concern, with the breeding population of snipe in Ireland now in severe decline.

If Heritage Ministers Darragh O’Brien and Malcolm Noonan are serious about saving our feathered friends from finality, the one and only option is to permanently stop the targeting of all 15 endangered species on the shooting list (including woodcock and greylag goose).

Swift progress must be made to protect these winged wonders of nature before they slide even closer to extinction.

Philip Kiernan

Irish Council Against Blood Sports

Mullingar, 

Co Westmeath.