Amalgamate ‘or disappear’
In line with the merger plans, two schools with cherished traditions North Monastery CBS and
St Finbarr's College, Farranferris will disappear and be replaced by a new state-of-the-art Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys.
Under the plan, the new school will be developed on the North Mon campus.
The intention is that the new school will have a new name, a new board of management, a new principal and a new uniform.
This in effect means that the "North Mon" and "Farna" will cease to exist as "brands" within the educational framework of the diocese.
However, the plan to shut down Farranferris and to locate the new school, with facilities for more than 1,000 pupils, on the North Mon campus, is bitterly opposed by teachers and some parents at Farranferris.
"We are being sold out, lock, stock and barrel," complained Seán Murphy, a prominent member of the teaching staff.
"We were never consulted and from the outset, our concerns were ignored and we were left with a fait accompli."
But Bishop Buckley insisted there was no other choice. "We can either create one new entity which will have long-term viability, or do nothing and see the death of one school and the undermining of the other one.
"The worst possible option is for me to do nothing, and I do not think a future generation of parents and pupils would thank me for that.
"I realise that amalgamations can be painful, but we have to get over our emotional attachments to old institutions and do what is best in terms of providing for the educational needs of the people of the northside and beyond. Every analysis of the figures, in terms of catchment areas and pupil availability and future projections, including that done by the Department of Education, points to the need for an amalgamation."
The start-up date for the new super-school has been set for September 2006, and the diocesan director of communications, Fr Tom Hayes, has said this is still attainable, despite the opposition.
Mrs Margaret Costello of White's Cross, who has a 14-year-old son attending Farranferris, said the school had a great ethos. "Parents do not want to see their children leaving a small school where teacher-pupil relations are great and academic standards high, and then be left with no other choice but to join a huge, new super-school."
At present, Farranferris has a pupil enrolment of 257, with the North Monastery having 450. The decision has already been taken not to enrol any first-year students at Farranferris next year.
"We do not wish to see the disappearance of Farranferris, which has a rich educational tradition attached to it," said Mrs Phil Looney of
Silversprings, who has two sons studying there. In a letter to the bishop last month, sent on behalf of teachers and parents, "profound sadness" was expressed "at the manner in which our beloved school is being determined." St Finbarr's College, Farranferris, was established in 1887.
Among its best-known alumni are the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, and RTÉ's Bill O'Herlihy.
The North Monastery CBS is older. It dates from 1811, and its list of famous pupils includes former Taoiseach, the late Jack Lynch, and actor and comedian Niall Tóibín.
The merger proposal was first mooted by the bishop in a letter to parents in December 2001.
In January 2002, the teaching staff (16 full-time, four part-time teachers) informed the bishop that they were "united in our opposition to the proposed amalgamation."
"The reality is that there was always only one option," said Seán Murphy.
"And from the moment the bishop made up his mind, Farranferris was systematically downgraded.
"Our conviction that it can survive and blossom in the future was never given serious consideration."
ACCORDING to Fr Tom Hayes, it no longer makes sense to try to sustain two boys' secondary schools separated by just one field. "They are already competing within the same catchment area for pupils and
resources.
"I acknowledge that this amalgamation will cause sadness in some quarters," said Bishop Buckley, who is himself a former president of St Finbarr's.
"Both schools have great traditions. But times have changed, and we must face current realities.
He said he was aware of the anger and upset at the apparent lack of consultation. "You can have endless consultation, but at the end of the day someone has to make a decision. I could take the easy way out and just allow the present situation to drift on, but in all conscience I couldn't do that."
According to Seán Murphy, there was always an alternative to a merger, but the bishop simply didn't want to know.
This view was echoed by Ms Judy O'Donovan, who is also a teacher at Farranferris. "We feel all our efforts to ensure the viability of our school were undermined all along."
In the event of closure, the teachers at Farranferris, under a long-established arrangement, will be absorbed into other schools within a 30-mile radius.
