A Co Tyrone school that has lost pupils to tragedies on the A5 is to bring its campaign urging the start of the long-awaited upgrade to the notorious road to Stormont.
St Ciaran’s College in Ballygawley staged a poignant protest at the school grounds in April, with pupils carrying 54 white crosses representing the 54 people who at that stage had lost their lives in crashes on the A5 since the dual carriageway upgrade was first announced at Stormont in 2007.
Just one day after the event, one of the pupils who took part, and who signed a school petition urging progress on the upgrade, was herself killed in a crash on the A5 alongside her boyfriend.
Kamile Vaicikonyte (17), from Aughnacloy, died in a collision with 19-year-old Jamie Moore.
Now two white crosses representing the pair will be added to those being brought to Stormont later this month, as St Ciaran’s pupils again call for work to get underway on the new A5.
Infrastructure minister John O’Dowd has said he is to recommend the upgrade to proceed, following a public inquiry into the project, though no start date has been confirmed.
The project will see more than 50 miles of dual carriageway built between Derry and Aughnacloy.
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The cost of the upgrade is estimated at around £1.6 billion, with the Irish government having pledged £400m under its Shared Island funding scheme.
Kamile Vaicikonyte’s year group will carry the 56 crosses at Stormont on September 26.
Teacher Pascal Canavan highlighted Kamile and six other members of the school community who had lost their lives on the “treacherous route”.
The school had also suffered from the loss of pupils on the A4 road before that was upgraded in 2010.
At April’s school protest event, pupil Odhran O’Hanlon - who was born on the date the A5 upgrade was announced in 2007 - spoke to attendees.
“In front of Odhran were three awards, presented at the school’s annual prize-giving ceremony. The McGeary Cup, The Kieran O’Hagan Cup, and the Darragh Horisk Cup,” Mr Canavan said.
“These trophies are dedicated to pupils who have lost their lives on these roads.
“Poignant memories of those taken too soon. Beautiful memorials of people whose lives were needlessly lost, who had so much to live for, and to contribute to our community.”
The school’s demonstrations are in support of the A5 Enough is Enough campaign, which was launched in January 2023 by Tyrone GAA in the wake of the death of four young players on the road in the space of a year.
