PLANS TO CONVERT a Dublin-based secondary school to a Gaelscoil will go ahead in September 2026, despite the vast majority of the school’s staff being against the move.

The plan was announced to convert Synge Street CBS in Dublin 8 to a Gaelscoil and a co-educational school by the Department of Education in September 2024, following growing demand in the area for an Irish-language school.

However, teachers were only informed of the decision the day before it was announced publicly.

Since then, school staff – along with the Association of Secondary School Teachers (ASTI) – have campaigned for the plans to be put on hold.

According to the ASTI, 91% of staff at Synge Street said they were not in favour of the transition to a Gaelcholáiste.

In February, the school’s board of management told the Department of Education the change to a gaelcholáiste would not go ahead next year.

Despite the school’s concerns, the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) – which oversees the school and owns the property – told staff yesterday that the plans to enrol and teach students through Irish in September 2026 will proceed – along with a cohort of students who will be taught through English.

As total immersion in the language is a key requirement for these students, students being taught through the English language will be accommodated in another building on the school’s campus for their first year. 

According the the ERST, a ‘Príomhoide Tánaisteach’ (Assistant Principal) will be appointed, and the the Department of Education and ERST will provide staff with an upskilling programme to help current teachers prepare to teach through Irish.  

Teachers at the school have previously said they “fully respect and value” the Irish language and its promotion within education and agree that there is a need for a Gaelcholáiste in the area, but that a transition of the scale proposed should be guided by “transparency, collaboration, and careful consideration of all children’s needs”.