Cork councillors call for end to schools being used as polling stations for elections

Councillor said there were many community centres and sports halls with excellent facilities which should be used instead of schools. File picture: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie

Cork’s county sheriff is being asked to find alternative venues to the inordinate number of national schools used for polling stations in order not to interfere with early education.

The sheriff is to be written to after a councillor laid bare the scale of schools being used as polling venues.

Fine Gael councillor Aileen Browne won unanimous cross-party support for the move, after she pointed out that, in 2024, young children lost three days of schooling due to elections.

Ms Browne said this also meant parents had to take time off or pay for expensive childcare.

She said there were many community centres and sports halls with excellent facilities which should be used instead.

“Looking just at the 2024 local election across the 10 local electoral areas in Cork county, there were 225 polling stations used, of which 149 were schools.

"That means 66% of all polling stations are currently located in schools. More significantly, those school-based polling stations serve over 147,000 electors, accounting for approximately 65% of the entire electorate in the county. With no election hopefully due for several years, now is the time to address this issue.”

In her own Kanturk electoral area, 22 of the 23 polling stations used (96%) were schools.

The Macroom municipal district, which covers all of Mid-Cork and Millstreet, was next highest, with 23 of the 28 polling stations in schools. That represents 82% of schools where 87% of the area’s total electorate were eligible to vote.

In third place was the Carrigaline municipal area, where there were 18 polling stations of which 14 (82%) were schools. These schools witnessed 80% of the electoral vote in the area.

In the Cobh municipal district, there were 13 schools used for the 17 polling stations (76%).

The Skibbereen electoral area, which forms half of the West Cork Municipal District Council along with Bantry, had 15 schools used out of a total of 23 polling stations (65%).

There were 13 schools among the 25 polling stations in the Fermoy area (52%), with 15 schools in Bandon electoral area of its total of 29 (52%).

The lowest percentage, 47%, was in the Mallow area, with eight schools out of 17 venues.

Fine Gael councillor Una McCarthy, a teacher, said education was being interrupted and there was no need for it, as venues other than schools could be used as polling stations.