‘Shock and anger’ over decision to not build Danu School building

Gary Ibbotson 20 May 2021

Local politicians are backing the calls from parents who are asking the Department of Education to develop a separate, permanent building for Danu Community Special School – currently located in Riversdale Community College in Blanchardstown.

In April, the Department of Education and the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) announced that Danu Community Special School would be located permanently inside the Riversdale Community College building.

This arrangement was previously scheduled to be a temporary measure with Danu Community Special School slated to move into a new, permanent building developed on the seven-acre site where Riversdale is located.

The decision by DDLETB to keep Danu Community Special School has been met with frustration from local politicians and parents of children who attend Riversdale Community College and Danu Community Special School.

On Thursday, May 13, Sinn Fein TD for Dublin West Paul Donnelly asked Tanaiste, Leo Varadkar TD in the Dáil to address the matter.

“In the programme for Government, there is reference to an inclusive vision for education,” says Deputy Donnelly.

“Inclusion in and access to education is the foundation for a more just and equal society.

“I raise the issue of Riversdale Community College and Danu Community Special School.

“There is a strong desire to support each other.

“Particularly, the Riversdale board of management supports Danu Community Special School in its desire for a new school on the large seven-acre grounds it has.

“However, there is shock and anger at the turn of events that will result in Riversdale losing over one third of the school permanently.

“The education and training board, ETB, has broken a promise made to Danu and Riversdale.

“The list of classes and support rooms that will be lost is of concern and includes the parents room, the art room, science rooms, counselling rooms etc.

“The school is also being forced to move into a darker side of the building.

“The Riversdale Community College board of management and parents along with the teaching staff, are concerned about the future of the school.

“I ask the Minister to appeal to the ETB to go back to their original agreement with Riversdale and Danu.”

In response, Minister Varadkar said that the development of a separate school building is still the preferred proposal.

“The original plan was, as the deputy described, that Danu would move into part of Riversdale Community College temporarily and a new building would be built either for the school or for Danu.

“I still think that is the right response and I know the deputy and all the deputies in the area do too.

“I still think that is the solution we will work towards and I am working with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the ETB on that.

“The school is being very generous in allowing Danu to move into part of the school but it should not be permanent.

“We should be able to build a new building on that large site. That would be a solution for everyone.”

It is understood that Riversdale Community College would lose roughly one third of its building to Danu Special Community College if the arrangement was made permanent.

Earlier this month, at a Blanchardstown–Mulhuddart Area Committee meeting, councillors unanimously voted to pass a motion asking the council to write to the Department of Education and DDLETB requesting that a separate school building be developed for Danu.

The motion read: “This committee condemns the decision to locate Danu Community Special School on a permanent basis within the current building of Riversdale Community College and supports the parents of Danu Community National School in their campaign for a permanent new school building.

“The committee calls upon the Department of Education and Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board to provide a stand-alone, dedicated new build school for Danu Community National School following an agreed transitional period.”

Labour councillor John Walsh, who tabled the motion, said the decision to retain Danu inside Riversdale Community College was “disastrous” and that Danu deserves a  “permanent, purpose built building,” and that “the school community in Riversdale should not be curtailed and limited in this way.”

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