Many children returned to school this morning after Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe reversed an earlier decision to keep schools closed for the first three days of the week because of the cold snap.
Individual schools are deciding whether to open or close depending on local circumstances.
Ferdia Kelly, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents voluntary secondary schools, said the majority of schools in the eastern half of the country were able to open. However hundreds of schools in the Munster region remained closed.
He said even in Leinster and parts of the midlands there are “pockets where ice would be quite stubborn in terms of disappearing from school yards” so schools will remain closed until tomorrow.
Mr O’Keeffe announced the three-day closure last Friday and indicated at the weekend that he would not review it until today.
However, yesterday he issued a short statement saying he had decided that the normal arrangements should be reinstated.
Mr Kelly said that while he would prefer the decision to close schools remain local he understood why the Minister had made the decision last Friday.
AA Roadwatch said most national road temperatures were above zero this morning but warned drivers of lingering ice as well as snow and slush on some routes.