MyTY

Students at a college in Co Galway were told last term that their school may close. Janette Hanniffy describes their fight back

When news like this travels around our school it usually takes someone pretty ignorant to believe it.

But as October 12th, 2006, progressed we wondered if it could be true. As our eagerness grew, so did our confidence: we students had a right to know. So we asked if, after 85 years, Seamount College really was in danger of being shut down.

It was - an answer that left us in shock as we began to discuss our lives in the school and realised how important it is to us.

There was barely time to let the news settle in, though, and no time to worry, before we were working out what to do. Ideas spread quickly among parents, teachers, students and the people of Kinvara generally.

At a packed public meeting the next day, parents announced their intention to form Retain Education at Seamount College United (www.rescue seamount.com), to fight the closure. Money was raised through church collections, table quizzes, an evening meal and generous donations. Nobody will let this school go without a fight.

And why should we? Seamount House, overlooking the bay of Kinvara, was given by Elizabeth Nally to the Mercy Sisters in September 1921, and in September 1922 the order opened it as a college, with an enrolment of 12 pupils. (It now has 243 students.)

Since then it has been providing an exemplary education - and has earned a nationwide reputation. In 2004 The Irish Times named it the "highest achieving non-fee-paying school in the country". Seamount has been rated among the top 20 of the State's 720 schools, the top 10 of its girls' schools and the top four of Galway's 48 schools. Some 85 per cent of its students go on to third-level education.

Only last year 70 students from Seamount were awarded Young Active Citizens awards, and 16 of them, including me, were invited to Dublin to be presented with pins by the President, Mary McAleese.

Money received recently from AIB is being used in the music and sport departments, and we are working towards getting the green flag for our school's environmental awareness. We have also raised funds for ourselves, charities and our community.

What makes our school so special is the bond between the teachers, sisters and students. Despite being retired, the sisters at Seamount College are always willing to give up their time to help students who need it. Seamount College has placed an emphasis on pupils with special needs, who receive individual attention that they may not get elsewhere.

Today, as I left my voluntary work, part of the Gaisce award, I was told an important meeting was taking place at school. I'm hoping it will have a good outcome and that my future, and that of many girls, will consist of a full and fun education at Seamount College.

This is the first of three articles about the fight to save Seamount College.

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