Christian Brothers defend decision to close school
The Christian Brothers were left with no option but to close a long-established primary school in Dublin, it was claimed tonight.
Parents and teachers at 70-pupil St Michael’s CBS in Inchicore are angry that it is shutting its doors at the end of June.
Past pupil and local Fine Gael TD Gay Mitchell called for Education Minister Mary Hanafin to step in and retain the premises for the future education needs of the area.
The Christian Brothers said the school, which opened in the 1930s, was not viable and the decision to close was taken with the best interests of the pupils in mind.
Board of management chairman, Pat Cahill said he and the principal were informed of the closure on April 10 by the Christian Brothers but ordered to keep it quiet until a board of management meeting last night.
“It was as blunt as that. I was very shocked and so was the principal,” Mr Cahill said.
“All the schools in the area are full and it is always difficult at this stage – just a couple of months before the year’s end – to try to get pupils into other schools,” he added.
Director of Education for the Christian Brothers, Conor O’Brien said a decision was made to close the school because of falling pupil numbers and the low pupil-teacher ratio.
“Closure has never been off the agenda for the past eight years. This is nothing new.”
The latest review of the school, which has some students with behavioural problems, took place last month.
“The Christian Brothers, as providers of education, had to decide if the school is providing proper education suitable for modern needs,” he added.
Mr O’Brien said only four teachers would be on the staff next year, the principal would have to teach classes, there was no caretaker and vandalism was an ongoing problem.
“We decided that the needs of the children would be better met in an alternative site,” he told RTE Radio.
Opposition TD Mr Mitchell described the closure of the school as short-sighted and called for a ministerial review of the decision.
He said there was a need for a large school in the area as the population is growing.
“I am asking the Minister for Education to put an independent review body in place to urgently report on the future education needs of Inchicore and to put a hold on any proposed closure of the school.”
“I wish to state publicly that the Christian brothers served the local community with great commitment down through the years, although the school has not had a Christian brother teacher for a number of years.”
