Waiting In Vain

The school lists published below are based on a detailed comparison between a list published by the Department in April and an updated list published last month.

The decision to publish the original list on the Department's website was unprecedented. It was made after the appalling state of many primary schools emerged as the main education issue in the election. The Government was stung by reports of possible cuts in the school-building programme after the election. The publication of the list was designed to allay fears among local communities that their long-awaited school modernisation programme was in danger. Publication of the list was accompanied by assurances from some senior Ministers to school communities. The pre-election message was that the cheque was in the post. Everybody could rest assured, their school would be renovated, a new school would be built, everything would be fine.

It has not quite worked out like that. As the list below indicates, very few schools have moved up the queue. Real progress has been made in only a small number; the vast majority are stuck in a moment. The Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey, claims - with some justification - that some schools were only put on the Department's list to satisfy local political pressure. Given the cutbacks, some have virtually no prospect of seeing real progress.

The lengthy nine-stage process of school building - from sketch and design to construction and completion - means that some schools have only climbed a rung on the ladder. But they are going nowhere.