23-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Over €1.2m secured for 15 Meath schools under Safe Routes to School Programme
The initiative aims to make it safer and easier for students to walk, cycle, or wheel to school, while also improving access to school grounds and increasing the availability of bicycle and scooter parking.
Senator Linda Nelson Murray welcomed the announcement, saying: 'This would mean that children would be able to get to school in a safe way, whether that is by bicycle, bus or walking. This scheme is a no brainer and I want to see it back open.'
She added: 'I would like to see the Safe Route to School Programme reintroduced as there are a lot of schools in Meath that did not get a chance to apply for the scheme.'
'Children are our future, they are our precious cargo so we need to get them to school safely.'
Education Minister and Meath East TD Helen McEntee also welcomed the news in a social media post.
She said: 'The scheme funds small and large-scale projects such as providing 'front of school' treatments to enhance access to the school grounds, accelerating delivery of walking, cycling, and wheeling infrastructure on key access routes to schools, and expanding the amount of cycle and scooter parking available at schools.'
'It is important that we support primary and post-primary students in accessing safer and healthier options for getting to school,' the minister added.
The Safe Routes to School Programme is a collaborative effort coordinated by the SRTS Team at An Taisce, in partnership with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and local authorities. It is an initiative of the Department of Transport, supported by the Department of Education, and forms part of the National Development Plan 2021–2030.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
