Minister hears of challenging conditions at St Joseph’s Rush

THE board of management, staff and students at a Northside school welcomed Minister for Education Joe McHugh TD to see first-hand the condition of its premises.

During his visit to St Joseph’s Secondary School in Rush, Minister McHugh met with members of the board of management, including chairperson, Senator James Reilly (FG), to hear the issues students in the school are facing due to lack of facilities and the growing waiting list.

In 2018, 224 students applied for 120 places at St Joseph’s and the student population has risen from 375 in 2007 to 800 in 2019.

Patricia Hayden, Principal of St Joseph’s Secondary School, said: “Management and staff were delighted to welcome Minister McHugh to discuss the pressing issues affecting our school. In recent times, St Joseph’s has come under increased pressure due to the growing population in Rush and the surrounding areas which has resulted in our school being stretched to the limit to accommodate students that we do not have space for. Despite interest and support from local politicians, we aren’t seeing progress at the speed which is needed to solve the problem with providing school places for the young people of Rush.”

St Joseph's  is located on 3.5 acres and there are 21 prefabs on site in a bid to tackle serious limitations on capacity. Enrolment for first year students will be capped at 144 students per year from 2020. Continued growth is expected until 2023-2024 leaving the current site ill-equipped to cope with the projected enrolment figures.”

Ms Hayden added: “A site for the new school has been designated but despite this positive development, the school will not be delivered until 2023. The allocation of funding for prefab accommodation is a temporary solution to the problem and will not adequately address the current waiting list.”

St Joseph's was initially built as an all-girls' school in 1961 to accommodate 351 students and was expanded to a mixed school in 1982. In 2018, the school launched a campaign, ‘Rush Stands Up’, in order to highlight to urgent need for action.