Playschools on wheels are welcomed in Galway

They look like double-decker buses, they sound like double-decker buses, but their route is likely to vary every week.

They look like double-decker buses, they sound like double-decker buses, but their route is likely to vary every week.

City and suburban halting sites and some of the remoter areas of Connemara will be main destinations for the State's first two playschools on wheels.

The magic buses, Soghluaisteβin Spraoi as Gaeilge, have been purchased, converted and refurbished by the Western Health Board for the Galway City and County Childcare Committee at a cost of £100,000.

The ignition keys are due to be handed over to the childcare representatives by the health board's chief executive officer, Dr Sheelah Ryan, this afternoon.

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They have already been kitted out: the upper decks have been redesigned as play areas, while the lower decks will serve as meeting and training areas for parents and for health professionals who may wish to give out information on a range of issues.

Up to 10 children can be accommodated upstairs, and the brightly painted buses will be staffed with support from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The Department administers the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme.

The idea comes from Britain, where buses are used to serve areas and communities lacking in pre-school facilities. The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, will launch the project this afternoon as part of his continuing interest in childcare in his Galway West constituency.

In fact, the childcare committee owes its origins to Mr Fahey's involvement, when he was junior health minister prior to his appointment as Minister for the Marine..

He was sole Government representative at a very angry meeting hosted by the National Children's Nurseries' Association in Galway in May 1999, when parents vented their anger about the impact of new regulations under the 1991 Childcare Act.