Family disappointed as ministers fail to meet them

A COUPLE who took the fight to keep their son’s full-time classroom assistant to the Dáil yesterday said they were disappointed Cabinet members didn’t meet them.

But John and Rachel Kelleher welcomed the fact that Education Minister Mary Hanafin had taken an interest in their son Shane’s case.

The Cork family were hoping to hand Ms Hanafin a petition, signed by more than 3,000 people last week, demanding a reversal in the decision to cut Shane’s special needs assistant (SNA) hours by half.