Parents told school will open despite court challenge

Parents have been assured that a new primary school will open in a town in east Cork this autumn despite a legal challenge over who should run it.

Cork Education and Training Board (ETB) is scheduled to welcome infants to a new multidenominational school in Carrigtwohill on Monday.

Uncertainty has been created by a challenge, heard last week in the High Court, to the process by which the Department of Education chose Cork ETB as patron.

Secular Schools Ireland (SSI), a company that proposed to offer a co-educational non-denominational school, wants its exclusion from the selection process and the awarding of patronage to Cork ETB to be quashed.

Cork ETB chief executive Ted Owens acknowledged there had been a drop in numbers, from the 29 junior infant pupils originally expected next week, but he assured parents there would be a new school.

“There continues to be a commitment that there will be a new school in Carrigtwohill at the end of the process,” he said.

It is yet to be decided, depending on the High Court’s judgment which may come before the end of this week, if the school proceeds as planned under Cork ETB’s patronage or if the process may have to be run again.

The department only got planning permission on August 13 for temporary school accommodation at local GAA club grounds but appeals could still be lodged.

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan announced the awarding of patronage to Cork ETB on June 10 after local campaigning by the board, multidenominational schools group Educate Together, and the Catholic Bishop of Cloyne to gather parental support for their type of school. The bishop’s proposal was ruled out as it would not have added to the diversity of primary school provision, with two Catholic primary schools in the immediate area and three others among five primary schools in nearby Midleton.

SSI’s application to be considered as a potential patron was deemed invalid earlier in the process by the Department of Education, which said it did not provide all necessary confirmation sought from all applicants to become patron of new schools. In the High Court last Friday, SSI claimed it was not given an opportunity to address the purported invalidity of its application or to address any concerns the department may have had.

The claims were refuted by legal counsel for the minister, Ireland, and the attorney general, who were the respondents in the case.