Over 100 parents were lined up along the railings of Loreto College, River Valley, Swords, Co Dublin, last night, in the hope of securing places for their daughters in 2005 and 2006 when the school opens to applicants this morning.
Those at the head of the queue set up their deckchairs at 7 a.m. yesterday morning, taping cardboard to the fence as a makeshift windbreak in preparation for the 27-hour wait.
Clad in three jumpers, two scarves and a hat, and warmed by an Irish coffee, a rug and a sleeping bag, Ms Anne Delaney said she had no choice but to queue, as it is the only way to ensure her daughter, Susan, will gain a place in 2006. Proximity to where she lives, and the fact that it's an all-girl school and has a good reputation, are her reasons for choosing the college.
Further down the queue, one mother muttered about starting anger management classes on Monday as her fury at having to sit out all night mounted. "It's ridiculous," she said.
Ms Yvonne Wood said she didn't want her daughter to have to take a bus to another school. "It takes nearly 30 minutes to get out of River Valley in the morning because of the traffic," she said. She was scathing about the lack of new schools in the area, where the population grew by 10,000 between 1991 and 2002.
Other parents mentioned the housing estates which are being built close by as evidence of the increasing population.
"If you look at any of the brochures for the new housing developments, they say there are local schools, but there are four national schools fighting for 80 places here," said Mr Mark Dromgoole, who was queuing for his daughter Amy (10). He said if necessary he'd have queued for a week in order to get his daughter a place. The last time he queued all night was for concert tickets in 1989. "If I can do it for U2, I can do it for my daughter," he added.
However a teacher who arrived back with pupils from an outing was dismissive of the parents' efforts. "It's nice to feel they want to get their darlings into the school, but there's absolutely no necessity for this. Two years ago all the people in the queue got theirs in."