Dublin mums, would you let your child ride a Dublin Bus alone?

[shubiedoo]

We lived in Dublin for years, moved to Canada when ds1 was 2. Our holiday is coming up, we have a house booked in Portmarnock. I am trying to imagine the scenario of dh taking ds1 with him during the day, then wanting to stay in town for drinks with friends later on. I thought of staying behind with the little ones (2 and 4) and meeting ds1 (8.5) right off the bus at the last stop, the Sands Hotel.

If he sits right behind the driver with instructions not to get off until the end of the line, he should be OK, right? Oh, probably not, I'm too nervous! I imagine we'll all go into town instead and I'll bring all 3 back with me!

But just out of curiosity, would you let your kids ride a city bus before age 12 or whenever they go to secondary?

my 2 dd's(10 & 13) get the bus to school, it is only a school bus service and has another schools pupils on it. It has taken me a long time to agree to this I suppose because of stranger danger concerns, but we have talked it through several times and I(yes me not them) gave in to it. They enjoy the freedom it gives , albeit for 15 mins only and bus stop is just at the end of my drive. I do insist on them having a working mobile for emergencies and they stay together.
In your case travelling alone in a foreign country might be a tad out of his comfort zone?? I would normally suggest , doing the run with him, seeing if it is a regular driver etc but if its a holiday you might not have time to do all of that. If you think he is sensible enough and mature enough to do it, give it a trial. 12 is just about old enough I think, my 10 yr old is more mature than my 13, sadly, so it boils down to the individual.
I see local children getting the bus at much younger ages here(oz) and walk to school alone, which i think is wrong and I mean around the 6 year old age, as they should have a parent put them on a bus and walk them to school.
We move back the to Uk this year and hope to continue them taking the bus but will see how it works out.

My DD1 (11) gets the bus to and from drama on Saturday mornings. She only started doing it on her own since she turned 11, she had made the journey with me quite a few times, and she had lots of written instructions. She was abit nervous at first, and so was I. She will be getting the bus to school in September.
I can't imagine allowing her to when she was 8 though, or her allowing me to allow her :o
I think it depends on the child to some extent. DD1 is very sensible, but a bit nervous.

I live very near portmarnock . and my dc's go to school there .
feel free to PM me .

Not at 8.5, no way

Thanks everyone for the replies. No, he won't be doing that, what was I thinking?! He doesn't take the bus on his own here, why I thought he would in a much bigger foreign city I don't know! Crazy!

Elmofan I might be contacting you..! :)

My dh is a bus driver on the portmarnock route , so if you need any info just ask .

Ah, the good old 32, I know it well!

I wouldn't, sorry. I was born and raised nearby, got the 32 all through my teenage years in and out of town, and I was 12 and in 1st year before I was allowed get it by myself - and even then it wasn't alone but with a group of friends.

The thing is that even though most of the bus route is through perfectly nice areas, it starts off with that big stretch through North Strand. It's pretty dodgy until you get past Fairview Park. Add to that the fact that he doesn't know the city and that the Dublin bus network is fairly impenetrable unless you know the city and all the routes and suburbs well (I have no idea how tourists cope).

If you HAD to do it I'd say he'd be fine, the bus driver would look out for him and there'd probably be a helpful old lady about too. But I wouldn't do it by choice, sorry.

On a happier note there was fab weather on Portmarnock beach over the bank holiday weekend, I hope it's as glorious for your holiday!

I'm always amazed to come across other dubliners on here
The locals were not impressed about the state the beach was left in though
oh and if you ever see a man trying to play tug of war with a springer spaniel dog

trying to get him our of the sea, they are not related to me

I love a Dublin thread :o

For anyone who might remember or still be interested, we had a great few days in Portmarnock, the house was about 10 min walk from the beach! On our way out of Dublin on Saturday we went to the nice sports club/playground/cafe on the coast road closer to Malahide, excellent! I was observing the mums with babies and wondering were they ever on this website...

Our day out in town never materialized however, as we only flew out on Wed, not Tuesday, overseas flight cancelled.

Thanks again all for your opinions of Dublin buses..!

He is a bit young, I live in Dublin and get buses in various areas but was probably about 12 before I got bus on own to town.

Kids here do get regular bus to school but you'd see siblings together if one younger or if own there own they are usually in secondary school.

Since he would not be familiar with the area, even if the bus driver was keeping an eye out, he might get off at wrong stop.

Most buses here are very safe during the day, I usually sit downstairs at night not because I am scared but sometimes teens and students are having night out and can be annoying.