Residents in Drumcondra have this morning protested over fears for their kids over a "very dangerous" footpath as cars repeatedly drive on the path outside their homes.
Andrew Cahill lives on Richmond Road in Drumcondra and says the issue has been a long standing one for residents, who are particularly concerned that it will impact local children. He and other residents as well as local councillors and TDs took part in this morning's protest, which began at 7:30am.
Andrew told Dublin Live: "The protest happened from 7:30am to 8am, there was a really good turnout lots of residents came down before they headed off to work or dropping their kids to school. It's a real issue we've been dealing with for years, it's a very narrow footpath and we have cars driving very fast.
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"We've had few examples of near misses with kids nearly being hit by cars. Dublin City Council has not gotten back to us about the footpath, we can't get two way traffic by on the road so the plan is for us to protest weekly."
He explained how "3.5 tonne lorries and trucks" are driving past, and that pedestrian access can also be severely limited on the street due to parked cars. Andrew added that residents took care not to block the road during the protest this morning but feel that a one way system would be better.
Andrew previously told Dublin Live that driving on the footpath is now a daily occurrence, and that they fear for their kids' safety and that cars leave no room for them to get by with buggies. He explained: "I have an 11-month-old baby, when you're pushing buggy on the footpath you get cars coming up behind you driving on the footpath, we've had drivers shouting abuse at us. going by. It's terrible and very dangerous."
The Council previously recommended introducing a parking system to deter drivers from accessing the route. However, Andrew said many residents objected to this plan, as it would make the route attractive to more drivers and could result in more speeding offences.
"The plan is to meet with the resident's group this evening to see when the next protest will be, but the plan is for every week. We had a lot of residents out and great support from local councillors, so we're going to keep going until we get the outcome we want."
Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan attended this morning's protest. She told Dublin Live: "The residents of Richmond Road are deeply worried about safety and wellbeing of their families due to cars driving at high speed everyday on the footpath at narrow points in the road. I also am raising small children in the city and this type of behaviour is both dangerous and frightening.
"They stood out protesting on the footpath today to highlight for the Council just how important this issue is. I support them 100% and I hope the Council listens," she added. ” Taking to Twitter, she voiced her support with the residents of Richmond Road.
She said: "Families on Richmond Road really struggling with safety due to people driving (at speed) regularly on the footpath @DublinCityCouncil need to act, maybe a one way system? Childvision in the area with small kids learning white cane mobility too!"
Meanwhile, Cllr Donna Cooney has also called for Dublin City Council to intervene. She told Dublin Live that the pavements are "narrow and in bad repair" due to cars parking on them.
Cllr Cooney said: "The road is very narrow and people living in the area have a daily nightmare to try and walk in their neighbourhood, it's particularly dangerous for children travelling to school or people with walking aids or pushchairs it's almost impossible to leave their homes.
"It was already bad at 7.15am and got increasingly bad at 8am. Urgent action is needed to protect the pavements and a traffic management strategy to divert cars away from travelling through Richmond Road," she added.
Dublin Live has contacted Dublin City Council for comment.
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