Miscommunication over threatened Clare schools attack left children ‘in bits’ admit parents

*Trudy Leyden with Michael McNamara. 

CLARE PARENTS say children were left “in bits” over the emotional stress caused by the threat issued to schools in the county on Tuesday.

Ennis woman Trudy Leyden, a mother of two said the sudden closure of schools on Tuesday morning after children were dropped off took its toll on students. “My little boy especially was upset because you know the miscommunication especially can go around, he’s only eight and he heard in his class that bombs had gone off in Shannon”.

Once word began to emanate on Tuesday morning of a potential threat to schools, a sense of panic spread among parents. “The traffic in Ennis was absolute mayhem because a lot of the schools are near each other and the town centre is small. The traffic was unbelievable so it was a long time before I got back to Newmarket-on-Fergus,” she said while pointing out that her children’s father ended up having to collect the children due to the delays encountered.

She said, “I’m recovering I have to remind myself that it’s not part of a detective series I watched last night it is reality because who thought something like this would happen in our own backyard”.

Unnecessary stress and worry was caused by the events of February 11th, she maintained. She admitted her son believed “it was Israel or Russia or something had bombed Shannon and his school is in Newmarket-on-Fergus which is very close to Shannon Airport”. Trudy added, “His stomach was in bits he’s ok now I explained that its actually an opportunity for schools to plan for the future just in case anything happens but I had to play it down an awful lot”.

An Independent candidate in the 2020 General Election, Trudy flagged unrestricted internet use throughout the interview and noted the irony of the incident occurring on internet safety day. “They came out of school with a little badge around their arms with internet safety day and this all came from the online world out into the real world today, so that’s what’s very worrying. I would be advocating and asking the government after this and especially what’s happening on a higher international level to follow the lead of Australia and ban social media platforms for children under sixteen”.

Trudy explained that an ‘agree to agree’ scheme has recently been introduced in Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire, Newmarket-on-Fergus. This scheme is a cooperative effort by both parents and teachers where they agree to limit online use and social media for national school pupils. The Ennis native said she would like to see this scheme rolled out to schools across the country.