Students from five Gaelscoils protest outside Leinster House calling on the Minister for Education to provide a master plan and timeline for the development of the building for Gaelcholáiste Synge without further delay
Over 100 students from five Gaelscoils, located in the Dublin 2, 4, 6, and 8 school area, demonstrated today, Wednesday, February 4, at Leinster House calling on the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton to deliver without further delay on the promise of former Minister Helen McEntee last July to provide parents and students a timeline and images of the physical development of Gaelcholáiste Synge.
Cristín Ní Chairealláin, Principal of Gaelscoil Eoin, said:
“While we are very pleased with the appointment of a Deputy Principal and the progress in developing the Gaelcholáiste Synge staff, we are very concerned that the Department of Education is putting the Gaelcholáiste at risk because there is still no master plan, timeline and virtual images for the physical development of the Gaelcholáiste building. We understand that there will be phases to the development of the building but no information or timeline has been provided on those phases. How can we encourage parents’ confidence in this new Gaelcholáiste if it is not clear how the Gaelcholáiste, which their children may attend, will be developed. Don’t forget that the development of this Gaelcholáiste is part of a transition between CBS Synge Street and Gaelcholáiste Synge on the same site. Our parents and students have many questions and concerns about how this will work when the two cohorts of students are to be kept separate from each other to ensure fairness for all students and to ensure that full immersion education is available to the Gaelcholáiste students.”
Louisa Ní Éideáin, a parent with a child at Bunscoil Synge said:
“Many parents were delighted and relieved when the Department of Education informed our campaign to establish a Gaelcholáiste in our area that the Department of Education had appointed a Project Manager to work on the development of the Gaelcholáiste. We thought that the promise made by the former Minister for Education would be fulfilled and that a timeline would be put in place to develop the school. However, parents were both disappointed and angry when we discovered that the Project Manager has only been appointed to undertake small-scale work to facilitate the Gaelcholáiste starting in September 2026. From what we understand, the Department of Education is not currently putting together a master plan or timeline for the development of the Gaelcholáiste building.
The development of this Gaelcholáiste has been cited by the Department of Education as a new model for the future growth of Irish-medium education. The Department and the Minister have often mentioned it in reports and statements over the past year as a new approach to the sector. But the truth seems to be that the Department of Education is not being fair to our children, and to children from other schools who might attend the Gaelcholáiste, by avoiding committing to a redevelopment of the building. One only has to look at the major investment that the Department of Education made in the Educate Together building at Harcourt Terrace to see the differentiation that the Department of Education is making.
We are calling on the Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton to deliver on what was promised to us and to help us inspire confidence in parents and students to enrol in Gaelcholáiste Synge. To this end, it is necessary for the Department of Education to urgently provide parents with a master plan, timeline and virtual images of the development of the Gaelcholáiste Synge building.”
To arrange an interview or to seek further information CONTACT:
Julian de Spáinn
