A chara, - Is it not richly ironic that while the Labour leader, Dick Spring, is raising the issue of discrimination against All Irish schools in the North of Ireland, his party colleague, the Education Minister Niamh Bhreathnach, is employing the exact same tactics as the British on this side of the Border? Her decision to refuse recognition to six all Irish schools, although all have fulfilled the necessary departmental requirements, is surely one of the most undemocratic decisions ever by an Irish Education Minister.
The Minister informed David Hanley on Morning Ireland that she had decided that these schools would not be viable, but there is abundant evidence to the contrary, I am not aware of any instance of a Gaelscoil failing. On the contrary, they invariably go from strength to strength once the department's penal obstacle of 20 pupils has been overcome.
The Minister is perfectly well aware of all this, of course, but faced with the burgeoning demand for all Irish schools throughout the country, she has capitulated to pressure from monetarist elements within her department and from those in the INTO who have bitterly opposed the Gaelscoil movement from the beginning. So much for the much vaunted rights of parents and children in education.
The department has apparently decided to prevent the further growth of all Irish schools in smaller communities by making it impossible to achieve the required numbers in one year. In effect, this means that the rights of parents to have their children educated through Irish will henceforth be dependant on the size of the town they live in! Could anything be more undemocratic?
For the Minister to boast that she can in some way claim credit for the other six schools, which have been recognised, is also laughable. What, for instance, is more viable about an all Irish school in Westport than one in Enniscorthy? The plain answer is nothing, except perhaps that there aren't two Government TD's in Enniscorthy.
At any rate, the parents snubbed by the Minister should take heart. They will have the support and sympathy of all fair minded people, and no doubt their Gaelscoileanna will still be thriving long after Ms. Bhreathnach has returned to the political wilderness whence she came. - Is mise, le meas,
Clar Chlainne Mhuiris,
Co. Mhaigh Eo.