From expansion to extinction: a college saga
I had the pleasure of teaching in St Finbarr's College, affectionately known to all as Farna, until ill-health forced me to take early retirement in 1999.
I would like to make the following points.
1 Before his death, Bishop Michael Murphy sanctioned a proposed extension to Farna. This happened while Fr Noel O'Sullivan was president a man whose drive and enthusiasm were largely responsible for getting the project up and running.
The proposed extension, the plans for which were sanctioned by the Department of Education and Science, was very substantial, consisting, insofar as I recall, of science laboratories, staff room, library, recreation area, and 11 classrooms.
It was to be a state of the art education facility which would still only be one field away from the North Mon.
2 The Department of Education and the then Minister, Mícheál Martin, were extremely enthusiastic about the project. Based on department projections of future educational needs in the area, the proposed extension was considered not alone to be viable but to be highly desirable and necessary.
3 Between the death of Bishop Murphy and the confirmation of Bishop Buckley's elevation from coadjutor bishop to Bishop of Cork and Ross, the latter deferred giving the project his approval, saying he did not have the episcopal authority to so do.
4 The Bishop decided unilaterally that boarding was to be discontinued. Teaching staff were informed of this decision at a January staff meeting.
Despite the fact that many of the lay staff felt that boarding could be made viable by strong promotion, Bishop Buckley refused to enter into any discussion on this matter.
5 Following his episcopal appointment, Bishop Buckley pulled the plug on the proposed extension. I was a member of the lay staff delegation who went to the Bishop's Palace to plead our case.
We were trotted out the tired platitudes about declining numbers, changing circumstances etc. Who did most to bring about this decline? Who refused to countenance attempts to reverse such a possibility?
Little wonder that, like too many others, I am left scratching my head in bafflement. What has happened to the Department of Education's own projections of a few short years ago?
To where have these students disappeared? How is it that the local primary schools have not experienced the decline in numbers that is being trumpeted as the reason for the proposed closure/amalgamation?
In any case, Farna has always attracted students from a wider region than the catchment area because of its particular Catholic and academic ethos.
The dogs in the street know why amalgamation is an absolute no-no as far as Farna supporters are concerned.
Local wisdom has it that the proposed new 'super-school' is, in fact, the old all-Irish North Mon secondary school, now disused since they got their new building a few years ago. So what wasn't good enough for them is good enough for the leftovers!
Wouldn't it be just amazing if or when this proposed closure/amalgamation goes ahead that the old historic preserved building that is now St Finbarr's College should become the new third-level institute for the deprived north of the city? A feather in the cap, I'm sure you will agree.
Frank Connolly,
34, Meadowbrook,
Glanmire,
Co Cork.
