Concerns raised over planned Dublin 15 school move

Mike Finnerty 06 Nov 2024

Concerns have been raised locally about the planned move of Eriu Community College from Onar to Tyrrelstown.

A number of local elected representatives have objected to the move, saying it would massively inconvenience local families.

Over 100 local students and parents protested outside the Dáil in late October over the planned move.

Local Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly said the school will now be moved outside its own catchment area – over 8 kilometres away from its original location, and a half-hour commute by car.

Donnelly met the protesters outside the Dáil, noting it was the first time many of them felt moved to protest about an issue.

The school will be moved outside of its own catchment area, a distance of eight kilometres and a thirty-minute car journey.

Donnelly criticised what he called “this educational game of chess.”

“I am at a loss as to why this decision was made, over the heads of parents, the board, and the young people,” he said.

He said that there was “zero consultation” about the planned move.

While the move won’t happen until 2028, Donnelly expressed fears that the school will see a drop in students as well as children from the Hansfield area enrolling.

He said that he had received an acknowledgement that the relocation may cause difficulties for the current school community, and there were hopes that the impact would be lessened by management.

The Sinn Féin TD was told, “it is anticipated that the current school population will be close to completing post-primary education in advance of the re-location.”

“What this actually states, is that we know, that most of the current cohort of students will be sitting their leaving cert that year but sure, we hope they won’t be impacted? Really? That shows a real lack of care by the department for their students, who they were established to provide an educational system for.”

He remarked, “this decision can only have been made by people who do not live in Dublin 15.”

“To my knowledge, this is the first-ever school that will be relocated outside its own catchment area, so future students will not be able to access this school.”

Local Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie said “The Department of Education are making a colossal mistake in taking a new school in Hansfield and moving it to a completely different catchment in Hollywoodrath nearly 10 km away.”

She said the decision was made “out of the blue,” which further indicates that despite Fine Gael being in power, not even their local elected representatives were informed of the decision.

She added that the decision to relocate would translate to “this community having to start all over again in the near future to establish a new secondary school when there’s one here already.”

“I think it’s a credit to the teachers and staff of Ériu that parents and students feel so strongly about their school they have mounted a campaign to save it.”

Local independent councillor Tania Doyle said the move is “a most disappointing one.”

“As a parent myself, I fully appreciate the sheer logistical challenges involved in having one’s child or children in a school which requires lengthy travel.”

The Ongar councillor said that the move was purely a financial one by the Department of Education, in what she called a “penny-pinching move.”

“Figures indicate that the Hollywoodrath campus would comprise of approximately 15% local students, 85% would be the students from Eriu. It is clear that the percentages are on the Eriu side. The “Hollywoodrath” campus is outside the catchment area for Eriu so the relocation blows the “catchment area argument” completely out of the water.”

“I believe should parents pursue a legal action, they could win their action.”

“To me it appears that this is a proverbial ‘done deal’ which has been considered but kept under wraps by the powers that be for reasons only known to them,” she noted.

Local Labour councillor John Walsh said the proposal has left parents and students “devastated.”

“Many families chose this new school for its accessibility within the area,” he noted, with parents now facing the prospect of an 8km commute, making education harder to access, especially for those who rely on public transport.

“At a time when the focus should be on improving access to education, we stand with the parents and students fighting for a school they can easily reach. Dublin 15 deserves schools that serve the community,” he said.

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