Residents of Na Forbacha, Co. Galway, are holding their third Road Safety Walking Protest this morning to highlight ongoing safety concerns along the main road through the village.
Calls for action on road safety in Na Forbacha date back to 2016, when residents first raised issues about unsafe crossings, narrow and incomplete footpaths, and speeding traffic.
In 2022, Na Forbacha was awarded Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funding, with the objective of making the school route safer for children. However, progress remains slow.
An An Taisce report published in 2023 outlined 24 recommendations, including a lighted pedestrian crossing, traffic-calming infrastructure, and safe, continuous footpaths.
In May 2025, Galway County Council confirmed that a contractor had visited the road and is drawing up proposals but Na Forbacha remains at Stage 2 of the 7-stage SRTS process, with no delivery timeline and no eligibility for other safety grants until that process concludes.
The upcoming protest is the community’s way of maintaining pressure and keeping visibility on the issue.
Every weekday, children and parents walk to school along a route that locals say is unsafe and unfit for purpose.
“We’ve been calling for these basic safety measures for years. It shouldn’t take a tragedy to trigger action,” said the organisers of the protest.
Other local residents said that the pace of progress on delivering the road improvements is unacceptable.
Parents expressed that Firbo is “a community, not just a main road”, and that they need to continue to show that this issue is a priority for everyone.
