A Coláiste Mhuire school teacher hailed the impact of a student project road safety advert, which racked up over half a million views in the opening weekend of the video’s launch.
Kieran Kelly, a teacher at Coláiste Mhuire, supervised the student-led project which is hoped will combat motor vehicle fatalities on Ireland’s roads.
The video, which was filmed in Mullingar in April of this year, received funding from Westmeath County Council, who were impressed with Mr Kelly’s efforts within the school curriculum of teaching a road safety module.
Local film director, Noel McIntyre also lent his expertise to the project after being impressed with the student’s passion and knowledge for the project.
Road safety is an important subject in Irish news especially within Westmeath, that saw a high-profile double tragedy from separate accidents in the north of the county in July 2024.
Mr Kelly said: “The video was launched on Thursday, 5 September and went live online. After meeting with the council, we decided that we were going to launch it on the school social media platforms and the Gardaí were all going to share it.
“I spoke to the Gardaí. The advert was suppose to only go on their Westmeath page but they decided it was too good and they will put it on a national page.
“The last time I checked, there was 540,000 views on the video.
“A lot of people are reaching out. A lot of newspapers got in contact and RTE too. It seems to be getting a lot of publicity.”
Asked about the video’s critical reaction, Mr Kelly said the feedback he received had been “brilliant.”
He commented: “Everybody who has seen it says it is absolutely sensational. For us at the school, we are shocked and overwhelmed because we knew it was good but because we were involved in the making of the video, we always wondered if it was that good. Something like this, when we put it out could either fly or die, and at the moment, we are flying.
“A blogger had it shared and then she had another video afterwards talking about the video. To hear her talking about it, saying everybody needs to see it and what it meant to her. It is actually mind-blowing.”
RSA ambitions
Mr Kelly also told Topic about his ambitions on the possible reach of the advert. He stated: “Our target realistically, is for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to latch onto it. Westmeath County Council was in contact with the RSA but didn’t have much success to get through to them properly. They are busy with their own campaign.
“What we decided is that we would push this video out, get as many high-profile people as we could sharing it and then hopefully, if it gets out in the public domain, then the RSA latch onto it and come to us when they see the quality of it.
“It is all about road safety and the main people on road safety is the RSA. It would be nice if they were to come onboard and give us a little bit of support.”
Film expertise
Mullingar filmmaker, Noel McIntyre previously mentioned to Topic that the passion of the students of Coláiste Mhuire and Kieran Kelly helped persuade him to provide his expertise to the project. He said: “When I sat down with Kieran and he explained to me what it was about and some of the research he had done with young people using their phones while driving.
“I felt the passion of the project from him and some of the ideas from the students, I thought it was a lovely thing to get involved in and would add something to society. I was very pleased to be involved in it.
“The students helped greatly. It is a very good storyline and will relate to a lot of people. It will grab your attention.”
Speaking on behalf of Westmeath County Council, Colm Smith, Road Safety Officer said: “Westmeath County Council is delighted to be involved with Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar in this initiative.
“Working closely with stakeholders and greater use of social media and educational resources to promote road safety awareness is a key part of the Westmeath Road Safety Action Plan.
“Road safety education is essential in reducing road traffic deaths. Students are already road users but as future drivers they can play a key role in improving road safety. The aim of this initiative is to promote road safety education and awareness among students, young adults, and the wider community.”
