Sir, - If any community group in Ireland needed a model of how to achieve its aims and objectives, it should look no further than the Gaelscoileanna movement. For its breathtaking selfrightousness and hard neck, it certainly deserves a medal!
The letter from the cathaoirleach of Gaelscoil Ui Fhiaich (August 29th) reminded me once again of its single minded, utopian view of reality. I have watched in amazement as the Minister for Education has, one by one, capitulated to its threats and demands for high cost, low pupil number, all Irish schools throughout the country.
I am in favour of both positive discrimination in favour of marginalised sections of society and for the Irish language. However, common sense and justice must also prevail. As chairperson of an 18 year old campaign to build a post primary community school in Knocklyon, an area with the largest primary school in Ireland, I have seen at first hand the arrogant manner with which this Minister for Education normally deals with middle class community groups.
Her first act on reaching office was to overturn a decision by the previous Minister for Education Seamus Brennan, to build our much needed community school. Despite statistical data which confirms a huge population growth in Knocklyon, and that the number of 12 year olds leaving the local primary school will be the same in ten years' time as it is now, this Minister chose to spend over £3 million of public money on extensions to schools in neighbouring areas, rather than to build our local school on an 11 acre site bought for that purpose.
This is a disgraceful waste of public money by the Department of Education, and a refusal by the Minister to admit her mistake in not proceeding to build the Knocklyon school, which would have cost just £2 million in the first place.
However, the story recently took a new twist with the granting by the Minister of permission for a gaelscoil in Knocklyon to begin. Her Labour Party colleague Ms Eithne Fitzgerald, who is a local deputy in the Dublin South constituency, proposed that this should be built on the land which had been reserved for the postprimary school.
The irony of Ms Bhreathnach and Ms Fitzgerald proposing to provide more primary school places, in the face of the community's demand for provision of post primary school places, seems to have escaped both Ministers. Where does the political pull of the Gaelscoileanna movement come from? The Labour Party's ideological view of "disadvantaged" needs to be updated to take account of the difficulties and struggles of middle class surburbs like Knocklyon.
Do we not pay our fair share of taxes also? Meanwhile our campaign to have our much needed community school will continue. Perhaps we should tag the word "Gaelscoil" on to our name. - Yours, etc.,
Chairman, Knocklyon Post
Primary Committee,
Glenvara Park,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.