Pupils from 5 Gaelscoils bring the call for a meeting between the Minister of Education and the Campaign for their new Gaelcholáiste to Leinster House
Over 100 students from five Gaelscoil (Bunscoil Synge, Gaelscoil Eoin, Gaelscoil Inse Chór, Gaelscoil Lios na nÓg and Scoil Bhríde), located in the Dublin 2, 4, 6, and 8 school areas, demonstrated today, Wednesday, February 11, at Leinster House to call on the Minister of Education Helen McEntee to meet with the campaign to discuss the Gaelcholáiste that was promised last September.
On September 11, 2024, the then Minister for Education, Norma Foley, announced that a Gaelcholáiste would be developed on Heytesbury Street. Despite many requests to meet with the Minister of Education over the last eight months the campaign not only hasn’t met with the MInister but all requests for a meeting have been ignored.
Cormac Chambers, Principal of Gaelscoil Lios na nÓg said:
“We have been campaigning for four years for a Gaelcholáiste in our school area. We welcomed the decision last September to establish a Gaelcholáiste made by then Minister of Education Norma Foley. But despite many requests since then to meet with Minister Foley or the new Minister of Education since January Helen McEntee, TD, we have not been given a chance to meet with the Minister. We haven’t even received a reply to the requests made for a meeting. The members of the campaign feel very let down, frustrated and angry that they are being ignored in the process to set up a Gaelcholáiste. We believe that we have much to offer, and are a significant stakeholder, in the establishment of the Gaelcholáiste. We also have a huge amount of questions that need answers if we are to ensure that a successful Gaelcholáiste is set up. We are calling on the Minister to meet with the campaign as soon as possible to ensure that we can work together to achieve a successful Gaelcholáiste”.
Karen Hinkson-Deeny, a parent who hopes to enrol their child in the new Gaelcholáiste said:
“At this present moment in time, I have no idea what building my child would be located in, whether this will be the same building she will be located in for her six years of second level education, whether my child will have a toilet to use as there are currently no female toilets in the CBS Synge St. building, whether she will have all subjects available in Irish, who the management board will be and whether any of them will be able to speak Irish, how it will be ensured that my child and others in her class can receive a truly immersive education in Irish, and very importantly will the school enrollment open in October 2025 when there isn’t even a Principal employed yet. These are just a few of the questions that I have as a parent who is struggling to ensure that my child can receive an education through the medium of Irish. I really don’t think that it is good enough, or fair to all the parents in our schools, for the Minister not to meet with us to discuss these questions and for her to hear from those that fought for the Gaelcholaiste over the last four years. We all want to see this new Gaelcoláiste be successful but we are off to a very bad start.”
The campaign for a Gaelcholáiste in Dublin 2468 are calling on the new Minister of Education, Helen McEntee, TD to meet with the campaign without further delay
ONLINE: X @Gaelcholaiste2 / Instagram @gaelcholaiste2468 / #Gaelcholáiste2468
Additional information:
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Five Gaelscoils (Bunscoil Synge, Gaelscoil Eoin, Gaelscoil Inse Chór, Gaelscoil Lios na nÓg and Scoil Bhríde), located in Dublin 2, 4, 6, and 8 school area, have been campaigning for a Gaelcholáiste in our school area for the last four years.
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The new Programme for Government promises to: “Expand opportunities for students to attend Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí”. We have shown huge demand through a survey of parents in our 5 Gaelscoils that shows 521 children have an interest in attending the Gaelcholáiste in our school area. We also have research done into what the parents are looking for from a new Gaelcholáiste which we wish to share with the Minister
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The views of the parents from the 5 Gaelscoil involved in the Gaelcholáiste campaign are listed below:
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Timeline: A timeline for the school to open in September 2026 should be published immediately. This must be done, especially, to be fair to pupils currently in 5th class who are considering the Gaelcholáiste in September 2026
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Clear partitioning between students: (a) That the students in the new Gaelcholáiste will not be mixed in any way with the students in the current English-medium school for linguistic reasons and in order to be fair to all students in both parts of the school. It would be extremely difficult to implement immersion education if there is any mix between the students and there would be a huge question as to whether the parents in the Gaelscoileanna in the area would send their children to the school if the Irish medium operation of the school cannot be ensured. If this cannot happen in the current school building whilst there are still students attending the school through the medium of English then another building must be found temporarily on the site, if possible, or in the area if this cannot be secured.
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School Campus: (a) That a school campus be developed that will accommodate at least 400 students (this is the minimum figure used by the Department for the establishment of new Irish-medium schools) - it should not be forgotten that this Irish-medium school will serve 5+ Irish-medium schools, other schools that operate through the medium of English in the area and that it is on the LUAS line
(b) That the Irish-medium school will have all the appropriate facilities. These facilities should include the following facilities that we understand are not included in the current school building: girls' toilets, home economics laboratory, live physics laboratory, SEN room and resources (as outlined by the Department of Education itself - details below); football pitch even if it needs to be put on the roof, like has been done in the Educate Together, Harcourt Terrace, building)
(c) That any development of the building will be a Department of Education led project to ensure the development is completed as quickly as possible
(d) If the above requirements cannot be accommodated in the existing school on Heytesbury Street, then the existing school should be demolished and a new school built with the appropriate resources and these works should also be included in the timeline.
