A school bus driver said yesterday he had no regrets about his refusal to drive students to a Derry school, even though his refusal resulted in six students arriving late for an examination.
Mr Billy Kerr, who has been suspended from his job by the Western Education and Library Board, said he refused to drive the school bus out of concern for the safety of his passengers.
As a result of his action, six girls at St Cecilia's College in the Creggan area of Derry arrived about 20 minutes late for their G.C.S.E. science examination. Mr Kerr's wife, Patricia, is a science teacher in the same school.
"The bus was unsafe to drive and the board knew that because I and other drivers have told them about it in recent weeks, but they did nothing about it. If something goes wrong, the buck stops with the driver and because of my concerns for the safety of the students, I was unwilling to drive a bus in a dangerous condition", said Mr Kerr.
"The demister in the bus has been faulty for some time. The board was told about it several times. Because of the fault, the windows beside the driver's cabin mist up, making it difficult to see out, and when the mist condenses water flows down inside the window making it more difficult to see out.
"I'm a father myself, I have five children of my own and I wouldn't want their safety jeopardised in any way, so I've taken a stance on behalf of the parents and I'm being supported in my stance by almost all of my 45 colleagues. If my suspension highlights the issue of the safety of children on school buses, so be it", said Mr Kerr.
The principal of St Cecilia's College, Mrs Kathleen Gormley, said although the late arrival of the bus caused some initial difficulties for the pupils, those difficulties were overcome. "Basically the girls sitting the examination were allowed to take extra time at the end of the exam to let them complete the paper.
"When the students contacted the school to inform us of the problem, some of the teachers collected some of them and other students got taxis or quite sensibly made their way back home" A spokesperson for the Western Education and Library Board said it had apologised to the pupils, parents and staff of St Cecilia's College.
"The matter is the subject of a detailed investigation and arrangements are in hand to ensure that there is no further disruption in the operation of board transport services."