North Mayo primary school parents call for 50km/h speed limit on R314 road

Pupils, parents and staff at Culleens National School are calling for a significant cut to the speed limit on the nearby R314 road, citing safety concerns and the need to promote active travel.

By Jack Good Published 5th Oct 2026, 19:00 BST Culleens NS Green Schools Committee | Mayo News Pupils, parents and staff at Culleens National School are calling for a significant cut to the speed limit on the nearby R314 road, citing safety concerns and the need to promote active travel. Pupils, parents and staff at Culleens National School, just over three kilometres outside Ballina, are calling for a significant cut to the speed limit on the nearby R314.

The school's Green-Schools committee identified the speed of traffic on the road as a major barrier to active travel. With an 80 km/h limit and no active travel paths linking the school to the surrounding area, the route was deemed unsafe for children.

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The campaign comes at the start of Road Safety Week and as Mayo County Council holds a public consultation on the Draft Road Traffic (Special Speed Limits) (County Mayo) Bye-Laws 2026.

North Mayo primary school children call for reduced speed limit They feel the new proposed speed limit of 80km/h does not go far enough and the school is championing "Love 30", a worldwide campaign for 30 km/h speed limits in the vicinity of schools.

Road Safety Authority figures show that if a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle travelling at 30 km/h, one in ten will die. At 50 km/h, that rises to five in ten, and at 60 km/h, nine out of ten fatalities are expected.

Teacher Mick Duffy said the current conditions are keeping children out of the fresh air and off their feet.

"People are terrified to let their kids out of the car," he said. He explained that all the housing estates are on the opposite side of the road to the school. "There's a pathway on the opposite side of the road but you can't cross the road because it is lethal."

Mr Duffy said a lower limit could allow for a pedestrian crossing and encourage more children to walk. "The knock-on effects of reducing the speed limits would make it safer for kids to cross the road and take more cars off the road," he said.

He also pointed to the daily congestion at the school gate. "There are massive queues of cars coming into the school at the moment, causing traffic build-up."

Mr Duffy warned of the risk of a serious collision. "It's just a matter of time," he said, calling the situation "madness really".

Mayo school students’ rap video shows education happens beyond books He urged the council to seize the opportunity presented by the consultation. "What an opportunity now to reduce the speed limit to 50km/h to give parents peace of mind that children can cross the road safely."

He was blunt about the consequences of inaction. "There will be blood on the hands of people dawdling on this," he said.

Taylor Elson, a parent of a child at the school, said the main road section of Killala Road outside Culleens NS is set to remain a "Default Speed Limit". As a national road, this is 100 km/h, dropping to 80 km/h at the intersection coming into Ballina from Killala.

"This is much too high for the amount of cars that enter and exit the Woodlawn road and have to cross-traffic to get back into Ballina," Ms Elson said. "It is only a matter of time before there is a severe accident at that location and someone is injured or worse."

She called on the council to include a periodic reduction, as is proposed outside Clooneal NS in the draft schedule.

"Now is the time to include a periodic reduction... To lower the speed limit during those times to make the intersection safer, promote active transportation (by encouraging more children to walk/ride to school) by having a safer way to cross to the only sidewalk coming from Ballina."

The draft bye-laws may be inspected from Friday 2 October to Tuesday 3 November 2026 (inclusive), at Municipal District Offices of Mayo County Council.

The draft bye-laws are also available to view in map format online at consult.mayo.ie and roadguidelines.ie/speed-limits during the consultation period.