St Gabriel’s Special School: We’re failing the vulnerable

In a society where the idea of the sacredness of life, even in its earliest moments, is such a red-button issue, it should not be necessary to wonder why so many groups of vulnerable people are treated as if their life is of less value than others.

Yet anyone with eyes to see — or more importantly the heart to care — knows that fate deals an uneven hand and that can have more than challenging consequences for the weak.

The pupils of St Gabriel’s in Bishopstown, Cork, where children with autism and profound intellectual disabilities are cared for, fall into that category. Their school, which was opened 20 years ago and has not been refurbished since, has been described as an orphanage in an underdeveloped country. In an almost Kafkaesque irony, the pupils’ sensory room is a “windowless outbuilding” unlikely to stimulate anything other than despair.

The situation is so grim parents and St Gabriel’s management have set up a Go Fund Me page because the Department of Education’s response has not been satisfactory. There is at least one St Gabriel’s in every county. They are meant to offer support and refuge but have, for many reasons, become little more than holding pens for our fellow citizens.

Catholic tradition describes St Gabriel as one of three archangels who serves as a messenger for God. The message St Gabriel’s Special School conveys is one of this society’s deep hypocrisy and indifference.