No vacancies: One family's story

Julie Francis is on the parents' committee in Mary Mother of Hope School in Dublin 15. Her commitment to the school hasn't helped her situation however.

A mother of four young children, two of whom are attending the school, she was dismayed to find that her third child has not received an offer of a place for this coming year.

"As yet, Chloe is on the waiting list at number 82," she says. "I was in a panic when I originally found out because her playschool had assumed she was going to school in September and had given her place to someone else." Fortunately for the Francis family, another child was withdrawn from the playschool and Chloe was given that space.

All the same, plans have been dashed. "Chloe was very upset when she found she wasn't going," says Francis. "She walks up to the school everyday with me. Some of her friends are going to school next year, but others haven't got a place. It is upsetting."

As it stands, it will take three new classes to be added to the school in order for Chloe to get a place. Of course some children may not accept the places offered, but the chance of the school getting over 80 refusals is slim to say the least. Extra classes will be essential.

According to Francis, some parents have opted to split their children, sending some to one school and others to another. This is not an option for her. "I walk my children to school," she says. "I couldn't physically bring Chloe to a different one."

She believes that unless a solution is found, there is no choice but for her daughter to hold on for another year. Minister of State for Education Brian Lenihan came out to the school and expressed the need for a new school, but as yet, nothing has happened. "I rang the school planning department, but I was told to ring back in three weeks as they know nothing yet," says Francis.

"They are obviously not looking at the demand in the area," says Francis. "Our school is full, Huntstown is full, the Educate Together school is full. There is nowhere for children to go."

"It just seems that we are having to fight for everything," she says. "The school is wonderful and the principal has fought so hard. It's a battle for him too . . . He always seems to be supervising the instalment of new prefabs."

She is concerned about the consequences of the overcrowding. "There is a big knock-on effect with all of this. It's affecting playschools in the area - if all these children have to wait for another year, next year's children won't get a place. It has a big effect on everybody."

Gráinne Faller