Angry parents demand go-ahead for new building

AS pest control experts hunted down rats in a Limerick primary school yesterday, parents in Kilfinane said this was the last straw.

The local primary school remains closed since a rat was found in the school on Wednesday.

Parents say the rats problem emanates from the dirty outside toilets still in use.

All 134 children attending the school will remain at home until health inspectors give the all-clear.

But angry parents said they will no longer be fobbed off by political promises for the new school they have been demanding for years.

They want Education Minister Mary Hanafin to allow the proposed new school for Kilfinane to proceed to design stage. Marie O’Connor, whose three children attend the school, said: “We have been promised a new school for years. We have a site and our share of the cost has been raised locally. But the Department of Education has not yet allowed our school project to proceed to the design stage. It’s like being on an elevator which is stuck in the one place.”

A lobby group met Ms Hanafin last year, having been told before the last election it was all systems go for the new school.

Mrs O’Connor said: “This situation with the rats is the last straw. It is very worrying. But if the health people give the all-clear to go back into the building, the basic problem with the outside toilets will still be there.”

The parents said if the department gave the go-ahead for the new school, they would be in the building within 12 months. Children have to walk about 30 yards from the main school building when they want to visit the toilets.

A consultant’s report commissioned by the INTO on the condition of the school said there is also a danger of ceiling collapse in the building. A Department of Education spokesperson said the school would be considered to proceed to design stage as the schools’ building programme is rolled out.

School management is hopeful the school will be able to reopen next Monday.

Local community leaders in Kilfinane said the condition of the school and its size is holding back further housing developments in Kilfinane. The three West Limerick Dáil deputies, Michael Collins, John Cregan and Dan Neville, along with Senator Michael Finucane, have contacted Ms Hanafin asking her to allow the new school to proceed to design stage.