'It just seems crazy': 11 Longford children left stranded without school bus access
Margaret Rollins, who lives with her family in the townland of Collum, Newtowncashel, said her daughter Aeveen, who attends Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon, is one of the 11 pupils who no longer has a bus ticket.
Children without a school bus place have been left 'stressed and upset' after they were informed there was no ticket for them, according to the mother of a 14-year-old girl.
Margaret Rollins, who lives with her family in the townland of Collum, Newtowncashel, said her daughter Aeveen, who attends Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon, is one of the 11 pupils who no longer has a bus ticket.
She stated the parents of children in Collum and Derrydarragh on the other side of the road were notified recently and informed of the news.
The youngsters all either attend Mercy Secondary or Ballymahon Vocational School and the children are 'distressed' by the uncertainty of the situation.
"You know, it's not fair and the stress and uncertainty is just not good enough.
"It is not good enough in view of student well-being to be treating kids like this in this day and age.
"And the one thing is, you provide free school meals, you provide free books, and then you turn around to kids and say, you had a bus last year, but we're not going to give you a bus to get to school this year.
"So what's the good in free school books and the free school lunches?
Margaret said the bus route that stops at Carrowrory crossroads, known locally as Carrodger crossroads, is used frequently by large vehicles and it is more then adequate for a school bus.
"It just seems crazy that you could take 11 kids and just say to all of them, you're unsuccessful and it's random selection and the kids are distressed,” she added.
Newtowncashel-based Councillor Martin Skelly said he has 'made lots of representations over the last month or so' and it seems to be falling on deaf ears.
"The issue is we are sandwiched halfway between Lanesboro and Ballymahon where the secondary schools are.
"The reality is the natural gravitation for people from Newtowncashel over the years has been to go to the Ballymahon schools but Bus Éireann has deemed that Lanesboro is technically a kilometre closer than Ballymahon from some parts of the parish.
"There are also parts of this parish that are closer to Ballymahon."
Cllr Skelly said it is 16km-to-18km from Newtowncashel to Ballymahon and not a short distance and it would be “quite expensive to hire a taxi or some other form of transport”.
Cllr Skelly said Bus Éireann do not seem to accept ‘the natural alliance for Newtowncashel people’.
"I'm blue in the face [highlighting it], and Deputy Micheál Carrigy is working on it.”
The Newtowncashel native said he has written to Bus Éireann, Dáil Éireann and the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton but he has had ‘no response apart from a response of some standard answers like Ballymahon is a kilometre further’.
"What I have been told by Bus Éireann is these children have been randomly picked all over the South Longford bus run that the Ballymahon school run would do."
Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.
A Bus Éireann spokesman said, "Children are eligible for Post Primary transport where they reside not less than 4.8kms from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department of Education and Youth/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
"For the school year 2025/26, Bus Éireann provided transport for over 181,000 pupils nationwide.
"Over 140,000 tickets have been issued for mainstream pupils for the 26/27 school year and will continue to issue over the coming weeks where capacity exists on routes.
"All pupils who are eligible for school transport, who complied with applications/payment deadlines and where a route exists are being facilitated with transport.
"Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who applied and paid on time and where a service exists will be considered for any spare seats/tickets, after all eligible children have been catered for.
Bus Éireann said tickets for non-eligible students are known as concessionary tickets.
"The pupils you are referring to are children who are not eligible for school transport.
"The availability of concessionary transport for non-eligible students may vary from year to year, is not available on public scheduled services and cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child’s post primary school education cycle.
"Where demand for seats exceeds available supply and all seats have been allocated, additional seats/tickets will not be available. Families will receive a "no seat" notification from the Bus Éireann online portal and a letter from Bus Éireann."
Bus Éireann said the eligibility policy and guidelines relating to the school transport scheme are set by the Department of Education and Youth.
Full details of the school transport schemes are available on the Department of Education and Youth’s website www.gov.ie/schooltransport