Minister must not “wash hands of Newpark Academy of Music”

A Fine Gael Senator has said the Minister for Education must “step in” to save a thriving music school in south Dublin.

Senator Barry Ward, from Dún Laoghaire, has called on the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD to intervene to ensure the survival of Newpark Academy of Music.

Newpark Academy of Music has been operating since 1979, has 600 students and 42 professional staff, and an enormous local, national and international reputation.

The Academy counts among its graduates important musical names like Hozier, Rory Doyle, Sean Carpio, Aoife Doyle and Lauren Kinsella to name a few.

Speaking in Seanad Éireann, Senator Ward said that “the remit of the Department of Education is to provide education to primary and post-primary students locally, but it is also its stated intent to use school grounds wherever possible.

“Newpark Academy was operating on the grounds of Newpark Comprehensive School in a building leased to it by the Department of Education.

“No explanation has been given for why the school has closed and it is incumbent on the Minister to intervene to make sure that it does not close.

“It is not acceptable for the Minister to wash her hands of this situation and she must intervene to save this important conduit for musical education in Blackrock.

“The students and staff of Newpark Academy of Music are entitled to answers as to why the school is closing given that is one of the most successful schools in the region and it is grossly unfair that it would close its doors with no answers being provided as to why it is necessary to do so.

“If, as the Minister has told me in the Seanad, it was closed for “financial and operational reasons”, then the Department and the Minister must intervene to deal with those problems and allow the continued success of Newpark Academy of Music.”