Woman who must walk children three miles to school banned from driving

Gordon Deegan

A judge has told a mother who has to do a six-mile round walk with her three young children to their local school every day that her driving days are over.

At Killaloe District Court sitting in Ennis, the 39-year-old east Clare mother of three told Judge Alec Gabbett that her four-year-old finds the twice-daily three-mile walk on a back road between their home and the school “very challenging”.

Judge Gabbett said he was concerned for the safety of the children walking along the road “where you would have cars tearing along”.

He told the woman “that the wheels are coming off the wagon and there are all sorts of flashing lights going off” in her life.

The woman, who lives with her children in an isolated part of east Clare, was before the court pleading guilty to driving with no insurance near the village of Scarriff on July 17th, 2023.

The court was told that the woman has eight previous convictions for driving without insurance and has previously received a four-month suspended prison sentence for driving without insurance at Nenagh District Court.

The woman is also serving a four-year driving ban, and Judge Gabbett told her that if she drives “the suspended four months will kick in and you will go to jail”.

You simply cannot drive

Judge Gabbett told the woman: “You simply cannot drive. You would be remanded in custody if you drive.”

He added: “Where is the justice in that three children would end up in foster care?”

The woman replied: “I can submit my steps to the Gardaí if needs be.”

The judge told her: “You are never going to be insured. If you tell the truth to an insurance company, and you strike me as a truthful person, they won’t insure you.”

He added: “That is the end of it. Driving is over for you and we have to get you a house close to a Tesco and a school.”

On the mother walking her children three miles to school every day from their home, Judge Gabbett acknowledged that “it is not pleasant” during the winter.

“A lot of people walked to school all their lives, and it did them no harm, but you have an awful lot going on in your life,” he said.

Judge Gabbett said the woman is living “under extremely concerning circumstances”, adding he was worried about both the woman and her children.

The court heard the woman lives in a very isolated area, but “is a very good Mum and the kids are her priority”.

Judge Gabbett, who imposed reporting restrictions on identifying the accused, adjourned the case to October 1st.