The petition, organised by Lough View Parents’ Council, has been signed by 1,084 people. It highlights longstanding concerns about pedestrian safety on Church Road, which serves two primary schools, a nursery unit and two private childcare businesses.

Ahead of presenting the petition, Ms Bradshaw said:

“I want to pay tribute to principal Mr Spillane and Lough View Parents’ Council for their years of hard work and campaigning on this issue. Their efforts reflect the strength of feeling across the school community, and I commend them for continuing to press for action.

“Church Road is particularly busy during school drop-off and collection times, with traffic from schools, childcare facilities, and other road users all converging. The layout of the road makes the situation even more dangerous, with a hill, a bend and parked cars restricting visibility for both drivers and pedestrians.

“Regular road users have reported numerous near misses, including incidents where drivers have dangerously overtaken slow-moving or stationary traffic around school drop-off times. This creates obvious risks for children and other pedestrians, and we must take those concerns seriously.

“No child or parent should have to worry about their safety simply getting to and from school. A safe, designated school crossing would help address the risks at this location and provide a safer way for the school community to cross Church Road.

“I am calling on the Department for Infrastructure to work with the school, Lough View Parents’ Council and the wider community to assess the risks and take the necessary steps to deliver a safe crossing.

“Pedestrian safety must be a priority, particularly where children are involved. We must take action to improve safety before a serious accident occurs.”