LAST UPDATE | 4 Feb

(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo.)

CHILDREN AND THEIR parents campaigning for Irish-medium education in Dublin’s south city were back at the gates of Leinster House today, expressing concern about the lack of progress towards meeting that target.

Protesting at the gates of the Dáil, the group of more than 100 demonstrators demanded that Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton provide a timeline for the opening and development of the school, along with illustrations of what the school would look like in the future.

The announcement in September 2024 that the well known secondary school, Synge Street’s Christian Brothers School, would be converted into an all-Irish secondary school by September 2026 was met with much controversy as the Department of Education and Children gave only brief notice of the plan to school staff.

Teachers and the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) have been campaigning to put the plans on hold.

Parents who are in favour of Irish-medium secondary education are also unhappy after it was revealed this week that the percentage of children receiving Irish-medium education has fallen to less than 5.9%, the lowest figure since 2013.

A deputy principal was appointed last summer to take charge of preparations for the school’s opening, including recruiting staff.

But parents and teachers in Irish-medium schools around the area are now expressing concern that a timeline for the school’s development and diagrams to give parents an idea of ​​what would be developed are not available as promised by the Minister for Education and Children last year.

It is now understood that two rooms in the primary school next to the secondary school will be used by the Gaelcholáiste when it opens in September and that the arrangement of those rooms is the responsibility of a project manager appointed by the Department of Education for the school.

At the time, Helen McEntee held the role but Hildegarde Naughten has since been appointed to the post.

Cristín Ní Chairealláin, principal of Gaelscoil Eoin, welcomed the appointment of the deputy principal but expressed concern about delays in other aspects of the project.

“We are very concerned that the Department of Education is putting the Gaelcholáiste at risk because there is still no master plan, timeline and design images for the development of the Gaelcholáiste building,” she said.

How can we inspire parents’ confidence in this new Gaelcholáiste if it is not clear how the Gaelcholáiste their children will attend will be developed?

Parents’ concerns have grown after they discovered that the appointed project manager was only dealing with work that would facilitate the opening of the Gaelcholáiste in a primary school building next to the secondary school this year.

According to Louisa Ní Éideáin, a parent with a child in Synge Primary School, campaigners are both concerned and angry about this.

“From what we understand, the Department of Education is not currently putting together a master plan, timeline or design images for the development of the Gaelcholáiste building,” she said.

Ní Éideáin recalled that the Department had been touting the development of the new Gaelcholáiste and citing it as a new approach for the sector.

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“But the truth is that the Department of Education is clearly trying to do this without being fair to our children, and to children from other schools who will attend Gaelcholáiste, and making a proper investment in the building.

“We are calling on the Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton to deliver on the promises we have made to inspire confidence in parents and students to enrol in Gaelcholáiste Synge. To this end, the Department of Education needs to provide parents with a master plan, timeline and virtual images of the development of the Gaelcholáiste Synge building as a matter of urgency.”

In a statement to the media today, a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Children said they fully supported the proposal to convert Scoil na mBraithre Crísianí into a Gaelcholáiste.

“Officials from the Department have visited the school and an assessment of the school’s accommodation needs has been made.

“A Project Manager has been appointed to manage the accommodation requirements and a report is being prepared for review by the Department.

“It is intended to progress these accommodation requirements as quickly as possible.”

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme