School of excellence

Gill’s Driving School boasts fully equipped, approved and endorsed training centres in Ballina, Castlebar and Sligo, and has been providing top-quality, professional driver training to passenger and commercial vehicle users for the best part of four decades. Irish Trucker takes a closer look at one of the leading driver training centres in the west of Ireland.

The superb training fleet at GillÕs Driving School

Established by Tiernan Gill Snr. in 1971, Gill’s Driving School is headquartered in Ballina with additional centres in Castlebar and Sligo town. All three centres are fully approved by the Road Safety Authority.
A full range of training services is provided from learner drivers up to advanced drivers. Furthermore, Gill’s Driving School have been RSA approved to deliver driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) training. With a comprehensive fleet of cars, coaches, rigids and artics, as well as an excellent team of fully-qualified and RSA-registered instructors, Gill’s Driving School is worthy of its place at the forefront of the industry.
So what are the core services on offer?

Gill Group general manager David Marsh explains: “First of all, we provide license acquisition training for learners in cars, rigid trucks, articulated trucks, buses, minibuses, jeeps and trailers. We also provide theory classes for all of these groups.

Gill Group General Manager David Marsh with Tiernan Gill Jnr and Tiernan Gill Snr

“In addition, we provide fleet training services including advanced driving, defensive driving, occupational driver training and eco driving. And we have been approved by the Road Safety Authority in all three centres to deliver driver CPC training. Under the terms of the Certificate of Professional Competency, all professional drivers will have to undertake one day’s training every year for five years. This was introduced for bus drivers in September 2008 and will commence for truck drivers in September of this year.”

Driver tuition is provided six days per week in accordance with all relevant standards, authorities and governing bodies. Gill’s enjoy a stellar working relationship with the local haulage fraternity – and indeed the local community in the west of Ireland in general.

A safe drive programme is also provided for transitional year students in secondary schools.
Tiernan Gill Jnr. is the current MD of Gill’s Driving School. A total of 15 instructors operate across the three centres, as well as four personnel in administration. The managing director himself and David Marsh are qualified as advanced driving examiners. A fleet of 14 vehicles is available for use by trainees, including two rigids, two artics, a bus and a jeep in the commercial side of things.

Tiernan Gill Jnr, Tiernan Gill Snr and David Marsh of Gill Group

Gill’s are very much the proven professionals in their chosen field of excellence and they provide a first class, meticulous, fully-endorsed service that few other driving schools can match. Their proven track record marks them out as industry leaders, offering a wealth of experience to learner-drivers, as David continues:
“We have been established for a long time and this certainly gives us an edge over much of the competition. With almost 40 years of experience, we know what we’re doing. The Gill Group in general [which comprises five companies in total] is very big on quality control. We invest in top quality equipment and keep it all fresh, well-maintained and up to date at all times. We also employ the best personnel in the business and we have a very high success rate when it comes to passing driving tests.

Advanced Driving Instructor Ollie OÕBoyle puts a driver through his paces

“We’ve also been fortunate to bring in a lot of business through word of mouth over the years. We’ve developed a reputation for quality and high standards of practice, and a lot of families and businesses would tend to stay loyal to Gill’s Driving School because they know we provide a service they can depend on.”
The commercial vehicle training aspect of the school is more than just an afterthought but, rather, has developed into a dedicated business in its own right. “Fleet training is very busy here at the moment, with a lot of companies having their staff trained. It’s a health and safety issue more than anything else and I think operators are conscious of this and want to ensure that their drivers are fully up to speed with everything. With changes in legislation regarding the CPC coming in across the board later this year, the HGV side of the business is also very busy. All in all, the business is going very well and we’re even going to expand into doing some work in the Middle East.

Tiernan Gill Jnr. with Ann McHale, Tiernan Gill Snr, Pauline Campbell and David Marsh

“All our instructors sat the Road Safety Authority’s driving instructor exams and we are fully in favour of all initiatives being introduced by the RSA to make our roads safer for everybody. The RSA is an excellent organisation for promoting driver safety and things have definitely improved a lot since they took responsibility for overseeing testers and instructors.”

What does the future hold for Gill’s Driving School? “I’m confident that the business will continue to grow,” says David. “We’re aware that the economy is in recessionary times at the moment, but we’re providing a quality service that’s of benefit to all road users. This business literally started out with one man in his Ford Anglia car and it has grown from there in response to demand for a quality service. We know we will have to diversify and keep an interest in many different areas, but the future looks good for Gill’s Driving School. Proper training ensures that drivers comply with legislation and also guarantees increased safety and cheaper running costs, so everyone’s a winner in the long term.”

Gill’s Driving School
Church Road,
Ballina,
County Mayo.
Ireland
Tel: 096 73030
Fax: 096 21854
info@gillsdrivingschool.ie
www.gillsdrivingschool.ie