'Rat-infested' school fails to gain funding approval

A PRIMARY school in Co Galway has been described by its own principal as a "rat-infested fire trap".

Elizabeth Mulry, the principal of Eglish National School in Ahascragh, Co Galway, said she could not believe that any of the 60 primary schools which had been approved for capital spending this year could be in a worse condition than her own.

Last year, Ms Mulry threatened to take the 49 pupils out of the school because slates were continually flying off the roof.

She said about half of the pupils began getting hives and headaches when they returned in September because there was no natural ventilation as the roof was sealed and the windows could not be opened.

"If the Minister [for Education, Batt O'Keeffe] could point out a single school in a worse condition than this one, I'll stop shouting," she said. "If there is another school where the walls are cracked, where there is mould and damp everywhere, windows held together with nails and wire, where neither the storage heater, the toilets or the taps work properly and there are mice and rats, the principal of that school should get in touch with me and I will offer him or her my sympathies," she said.

The 109-year-old school has two classrooms and two prefabs, one used as a classroom, the other as a multipurpose room. The Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney's father, Michael, attended the school between 1928 and 1937 and several of Ms Harney's cousins are taught there now.

Ms Mulry believes the school is in such a decrepit state that it should be demolished and a new building erected. Any attempts to repair the existing structure is "throwing good money after bad".

The school's board of management submitted a proposal to the Department of Education last year for a new school, and parents have bought a two and-a-half acre site adjacent to the present site for a new building.

The board estimates that a new school can be built within three to four months at a cost of €630,000.

The school was given €20,000 to repair the roof last summer because slates kept falling off in windy weather.

Ms Mulry said the roof was in such a bad state of repair that workmen had to use scaffolding because the beams were too rotten to support their body weight. The repair work stopped the slates falling off and also stopped the leaks, but sealed the roof.

The school called in Rentokil last year to deal with rats in the playground, but mice were also discovered in the classrooms before the Halloween break.

The chairwoman of the parents' association, Bridie Harney, who is not related to Mary Harney, said parents were "extremely concerned and very worried" about their children.

"We are at the point where we are saying, 'which is more important for our children - their health or their education?' " she said.

A Department of Education spokeswoman confirmed an application had been received for a new school. She said the project was being considered in the context of its multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. "However, in light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of this project at this time," the spokeswoman said.