Delight as Stillorgan gets a new primary school

THE announcement that a new primary school has been earmarked for Goatstown/Stillorgan was warmly welcomed last week.

Fine Gael TD for Dublin Rathdown, Josepha Madigan, said the new primary school will be a Gaelscoil, run under the patronage of Foras Pátrúnachta.  

“This is great news for the area and work can now move forward on finding a location for the new school, which is so desperately needed,” Deputy Madigan said.

“It is very welcome that the fact it’s a Gaelscoil reflects the stated choice of parents in the area, and will increase the diversity of primary education provision. Choice for parents in education is vital.

Cllr Deirdre Donnelly (Ind) also welcomed the decision to establish a Gaelscoil in the Goatstown/Stillorgan area following the Minister for Education’s announcement.

“As a past pupil of a primary and secondary Gaelscoil myself I recognise the benefits of an education through the medium of Irish,” she said. “I know that this is the result of a lot of hard work by the Foras Pátrúnachta and Gaelscoileanna as well as parents who want to send their children to an Irish language school.

“My family lived in Meadowbrook in the 1970s and my parents were very involved in the setting up of Scoil Náithí, as were many others in the community.

I appreciate the work that goes on behind the scenes to get a school set up. I have always been supportive of any initiative to promote the Gaeilge and I do believe that immersing pupils in the Irish language from a young age is a wonderful way to achieve this. It also helps their ability to learn other languages later in life. 

Senator Neale Richmond (FG) added: “This area desperately needs an additional primary school and I’m delighted to see this process moving to the next stage. Work is now underway to finalise a location for the new school.

“Gaelscoileanna are extremely popular now and this decision is reflective of the desires of many local parents.

“The new school will be close to Coláiste Eoin and Coláiste Íosagain in Stillorgan and it will alleviate some of the pressure on other, nearby, Gaelscoileanna in terms of allocating places.”

The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD, announced the outcome of the patronage process for three new primary schools due to open in Dublin in September 2016.

Patronage of the new schools in Cabra and Drumcondra is being awarded to Educate Together.  An Foras Pátrúnachta will be the patron of the new school in Goatstown/Stillorgan. 

Announcing the patronage, Minister Bruton said: “At the heart of what we are trying to do as a Government is to use our economic success to make people’s lives a little bit easier. An important part of this is to make it easier for parents where possible to choose schools for their children that reflect their needs and priorities. 

“I am delighted to announce the patronage of these three new schools being built to cater for growing populations. These decisions reflect a particular process which we have put in place to provide for demonstrated parental demand and for plurality of patronage. It is very welcome that these schools will reflect the stated choice of parents in the area, and will increase diversity of primary education provision in the relevant areas.

The Minister thanked the independent New Schools Establishment Group for their valuable input, saying: “The system used to establish new schools and appoint school patrons was introduced to ensure an objective and transparent process and the role of the New Schools Establishment Group is critical to achieving these aims.”