Order denies selling school to pay victims

AN Irish religious order has denied it is selling one of its schools in England to help pay off victims of clerical child abuse here.

Students from the Presentation College in Reading, Berkshire fly to Ireland today to plead with the Presentation Brothers to reverse their shock decision to close the fee-paying school from next year.

Four students, accompanied by a parent, will travel to the order’s base in Cork city this afternoon to hand in a petition signed by hundreds of pupils, past pupils and parents backing their plea.

The order insist they have no choice but to take the drastic closure step for financial reasons, claiming enrolments have fallen, they are stg£200,000 in debt and the aging school buildings require refurbishment costing stg£8 million.

But the Presentation College Parents Association (PCPA) say the arguments do not add up and they suspect the school, which has lands with a potential value of stg£15 million, is being sacrificed to meet the order’s liabilities to the controversial clerical child abuse compensation fund here.

“The school is growing in strength and reputation. It had a 100% pass rate in A levels last year, it has made the top 500 list of independent schools in Britain for the first time and it would cost nowhere near what has been suggested to carry out repairs,” said PCPA spokesman, Kevin Packham.

Mr Packham, who has two sons among the 350 boys attending the college, said there were no other suitable schools in the area with waiting lists and fees proving prohibitive.

“There is not one good reason to close the school so we can’t help but look at reasons beyond the school and we are very much aware of the difficulties religious orders are facing in Ireland.”

The order denied the move was linked to its compensation liabilities.

“The order would not do that and it could not happen in law anyway,” said public relations consultant, Manus O’Callaghan.