23 special needs pupils denied place at school

TWENTY-THREE children with special needs were welcomed into their new school in Dublin this week and then told an hour later that there was no place for them.

Thirty children, aged six to 17, turned up at St Joseph’s Special School in Balrothery, Tallaght, on Thursday, where they were greeted by the principal.

The principal, Brendan Hennigan, left to attend a meeting with a Special Needs Education Officer (SENO) and returned an hour later to break the news that only seven of the 30 new pupils could remain on at the school.