One of the most ethnically diverse schools in the State, in Ennis, Co Clare, and representing 18 different nationalities, will be under threat of closure when its three-year lease runs out in June.
The six-teacher "Educate Together" national school has been in prefabs on urban district council property since the site was vacated by a Gaelscoil but is now in danger of falling victim to rising property prices and pressure of space.
Mr Sean O Confhaola, the principal, has struggled to get the school off the ground since 1998 when he answered an advertisement from a group of parents seeking an alternative educational system for their children. "All we started off with was a blackboard and a box of chalk. We did not even have desks and chairs," he said.
The UDC plans to develop the area when an industrial park opens across the road. Mr O Confhaola said there were no zoned areas in the town's development plan for education facilities. "We will have to compete with private development. That is our problem really. We are competing for places that are potential housing estates or factories. People will object to schools because of the traffic going in and out."
Beginning with 19 pupils, the school now has 89 pupils from four continents. Many of the foreign pupils are the children of parents working in the area. Others are the sons and daughters of asylum-seekers housed in Ennis. "There are no grants to set up a new school. You are on the same grants for schools there for years," says Mr O Confhaola.
He mostly relies on a capitation grant to pay for running costs. This is based on the previous year's enrolment, meaning there were no funds in the first year. A big jump in numbers puts added pressure on resources allocated for that year. "Because we are developing, we ended up last year with 83 pupils but we were only receiving grants for 28."
Many of the non-nationals are on low incomes. Asylum-seekers staying in hostels receive just £15 a week each plus £7.50 for each child. Those in housing receive a rent allowance and a supplementary welfare allowance of £72. "It is difficult to ask for money because they do not have it," he says.
People have given their time, however, to clean up the building and carry out plumbing and repairs. The school, one of 21 multi-denominational "Educate Together" schools in the State, only received official recognition from the Department this summer, meaning it will pay for a site but will charge £25,000 as a contribution to the building of the school.
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Readers who want to contact Eibhir Mulqueen can leave messages for him by phoning 01- 6707711, ext 6544. emulqueen@irish-times.ie