Smoke from school bus brake not serious, says Bus Éireann

Bus Éireann has described a school bus developing a problem with its brakes in Co Westmeath yesterday as "an extremely minor incident".

The Bus Éireann vehicle had just left 43 pupils at Clonmellon national school on the Meath/Westmeath border and was stationary when a bystander saw smoke coming from the bus and called the fire service.

A Bus Éireann spokeswoman said an air compressor had blown, triggering the bus's braking system.

A "puff of smoke" emerged, and in locking the brakes "the bus reacted in the way it was supposed to react".

Immediately after the incident a mechanic went to the scene and dismantled part of the bus braking system.

The Bus Éireann spokeswoman emphasised that "the schoolchildren had alighted from the bus. There were no children on or near the bus when the incident happened."

The bus, registered in 1988, had just completed its normal morning route collecting children from a five to six-mile radius of Clonmellon.

Michael Joyce, who lives a few yards from the school, said: "I didn't see any smoke at the beginning. I went out to see what happened in case my house went on fire. There was not much smoke out of it but the engine part was fairly hot. The fire brigade was there but they didn't have to put any water on it."

School principal Deirdre O'Boyle said the 43 pupils from junior infant to sixth-class levels and aged between four and 12 had alighted from the bus when the incident occurred.

It was the second bus incident for the school in recent weeks.

Ms O'Boyle said a bus that had gone on fire in Athboy, Co Meath, the previous week had been due to pick up some pupils from her school on its rounds.

A review is currently under way within Bus Éireann of the school bus fleet, both owned and contracted by the company.

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has requested the incoming Road Safety Authority to undertake a fundamental review of the arrangements for compulsory, periodic testing of goods vehicles and buses for roadworthiness.