School railings vital for security

IT will cost around €10,000 to put a railing along the 100-metre wall on the boundary of St Olaf’s National School in south Dublin.

But the school only has €19.11 left from last year’s fund for running repairs and will not have its full 2002/2003 allocation until September at the earliest.

The 325-pupil school in Dundrum is on the pedestrian route to a LUÁS station being built nearby. But principal Ger Murphy said the work required to secure the school grounds has to be done this summer.

“The money will have to be raised locally, and it looks like we might have to ask parents to put their hands in their pockets once again,” said Mr Murphy.

“We are lucky that they have been so generous but they can justifiably ask what is the Government doing to help? We often have to depend on the goodwill of contractors who can do work and wait for us to receive the grant cheques,” he said.

Regardless of when the expected €8,000 comes through from the Department of Education, an extra €2,000 will have to be found locally. This will leave other works, such as treating the school’s wooden windows and other annual maintenance jobs, to be put back for another year at least.

The railings are vital for security and safety, as the school grounds are only separated from a laneway to the LUÁS station site by a one-foot wall.

“The last thing we want is people coming in at night and at weekends, leaving beer bottles or God-knows what else lying around,” he said.

The back and the other side of the school are expected to be fenced off using compensation the local parish receives for use of its grounds to provide the walkway to the station.