Children protest over field of dreams
Parents, staff and pupils of Gaelscoil Cholmcille in Dublin are awaiting a Department of Education decision which could secure the site within weeks. The protest was organised to highlight the impoverished conditions they have been in since opening in 1996.
While the clubhouse and prefabs were suitable in the early days, the school now has 210 pupils and almost 100 children applying for 30 junior infant places next year. The parents said the shanty school was intended to highlight how their treatment by the Department of Education is comparable to how children were treated 300 years ago.
âWeâre hopeful this site will be approved for purchase but we have had many promises in the last eight years, when no less than five excellent sites were let slip by the department,â said Joe Murray.
âWe have a great team of teachers doing the best in the current facilities but we donât want to risk losing them because of the unsuitable conditions they have to work in,â he said.
Three of his children attend the school and he hopes they will get the chance of a primary education in a purpose-built school before they move on to second level.
The premises currently being used has older children taking classes in the upper floor of the clubhouse, while infant classes are confined to prefabs, and there is no school yard in which children can play.
The department currently pays 95% of the schoolâs annual rent of âŹ88,000 but officials have asked the Office of Public Works to seek a suitable site for a new building. The board of Gaelscoil Cholmcille has been told a decision whether or not to buy the site identified by Dublin City Council will be made in the next two weeks.
A Department spokesperson said permanent accommodation for the school will be considered as part of the review of all projects not included in this yearâs school building programme.
