Action is demanded to help local school

THE Department of Education and Skills is being urged to act on the “dire” condition of a number of prefabs at a Northside school.

According to a local senator, the situation at St Molaga’s Senior National School, Balbriggan, is leaving countless staff, pupils and families at their wit’s end.

Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, Fianna Fáil’s Seanad Spokesperson on Justice, Children and Youth Affairs, raised the matter again in Seanad Éireann recently. 

“St Molaga’s has been an important part of the community in Balbriggan for over 30 years,” she told Northside People.  

“Just under 30 teachers and six Special Needs Assistants (SNA) are currently providing a quality education to well over 400 local pupils. Over half of these pupils are being taught in prefab accommodation.

“It’s incredibly frustrating that I have raised the situation in St Molaga’s a number of times over the past two years and yet I’ve had to plead once again with Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor (Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills) to address this extreme situation.

“The winter cold is on the cusp of setting in and already the existing prefab accommodation is leaving both staff and pupils in desperately cold and damp conditions.” 

Senator Clifford-Lee warned that it’s inevitable pupils will catch flus and colds over the next few months having to sit in prefabs that are almost 20-years-old, crumbling and getting worse. 

“In this day and age it’s hard to fathom how this is let go on by the Department,” she said.  

“Urgent progress must be made on upgrading and extending the school building in St Molaga’s. “Another 12 months cannot be let pass without these building works getting underway and dangerous prefab accommodation is replaced.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Skills said a project for St Molaga’s National School is included in the Department’s Capital Programme, primarily to replace temporary accommodation with permanent facilities.

“A Technical Site visit has taken place at St Mologa’s Senior National School with a view to identifying the scope of works and to allow for the completion of the project brief,” the spokesperson said.  

“In that regard the Department is completing the final elements of the Project Brief, which will facilitate the project being progressed into Architectural Planning, including the appointment of a Design Team.

“In the interim, to meet the short-term needs of the school, the Department approved additional temporary accommodation, which is in place at the school.”

The spokesperson added: “The Department wishes to confirm its commitment to progressing and delivering the project for the school.”