A new initiative which started in Balbriggan sees streets closing to traffic for a day so children can safely run around
Candice Marx, her husband and five-year-old son moved to Taylor Hill from South Africa about six months ago. “It was hard for him to leave friends behind so playing on the streets is an opportunity for him to meet new friends,” she says. “It’s nice to have children close by for a quick play in the afternoon after school.”
Mary Osakwe is the chair of the Taylor Hill Residents’ Association, which has an active WhatsApp group and Facebook account. “One of the children had a near miss with a car last night and the parent driving the car was very shook up afterwards. We need to educate drivers that they need to be careful,” she says.
“The children already cycle their bikes and scoot and play tennis on the road, but it will be good to introduce other games we played when we were younger and for all the children in the village to mingle,” adds Miriam Andrews. Ní Bhrian adds that initiatives like Playful Streets remind many older people about how freely they played outdoors when they were growing up. “Everyone is aware of all the risks to children’s mental, emotional and physical health by spending so much time indoors. Yet people are often not comfortable letting their young children out to play. But when you show them how it works, they see what their estates are missing.
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