A school principal whose school is just yards off "the worst stretch of national primary road in the country" where the speed limit is 100 kph is living "in fear of a desperate tragedy."
Myra Duffy says children attending her school in Co Roscommon are in extreme danger when arriving in the morning, and leaving again in the evening.
The school, Rathcroghan NS, is located alongside a narrow six-mile stretch of the N5 that has seen over 14 accidents in the last six months.Cars and articulated lorries travelling to Dublin from Westport, Castlebar, Ballina, and other parts of the west pass the door - and Ms Duffy says it is a "death-trap".
"Thousands of vehicles speed by the road every day, and it is just too narrow and the surface is too potholed and bumpy to take them all. We have had to put up a safety fence around the school to stop footballs going out on the road, and we also had to create some extra space near the school and across the road for parents to leave their children off," said Ms Duffy.
"The speed limit outside the school is 100 kph, and vehicles just fly by. It is a miracle that no child or parent has been killed here." Locals are up in arms about the road and an action committee is fighting for the road to be upgraded.
"Two lorries meeting at parts of the road have barely enough room to pass. Since last October, seven accidents have been reported to the gardaí on this stretch, and at least another seven have taken place that didn't require the gardaí," says local publican and community activist Michael Scott.
"There are huge craters of potholes on the road. It will take someone being killed for the National Road Authority to do something about it. There are 40-tonne lorries travelling the road and the dangers are huge. Even widening the road by a few feet would make a big difference."
Local Fine Gael TD Denis Naughten, said: "It is a crazy stretch of roadway. I didn't realise it was as bad until the local committee drove me along it. It is frightening. The Government still haven't given guidelines to local authorities about the new, reduced speed limits outside schools."
Experienced lorry driver Robert Brady, who lives along the stretch, said "it is the worst stretch of national primary road in the country - and I know, because I drive them all." Parish Priest Fr JJ Gannon has written to the board of management of Rathcroghan NS saying that "the rate of traffic flow and its apparent disregard for people accessing the school is truly alarming, and the possibility of a major accident occurring at that spot does not bear thinking about."
The committee is planning a protest, and may organise a slow-moving convoy along the stretch for a day.