Sir, - We are writing in support of the views contained in the recent article by Fintan O'Toole and more particularly in response to the replying article by two Ministers, Mr Taylor and Ms Bhreathnach. We write in order to clarify the final paragraph of their article.
They say that "a recitation of the facts would show, we have worked with, and are working with, the Crumlin Multi Denominational School. It is neither true or (sic) fair to imply otherwise." Your readers would benefit from an insight into what is meant by the words "work" and "with".
Our school was served, by our landlords, with a notice to quit by July 31st, 1996, as they required the premises for development. The Department of Education was notified of this problem in June. With the aid of local TDs a meeting with the department took place on July 11th, attended by the Minister's Programme Manager, Mr Pat Keating, as well as a departmental official.
The department was supplied with a full and comprehensive property report setting out the attempts that we had made to identify alternative premises, and our assessment of the possibilities of using some unused resources owned by the State. We did, in fact, advise them of a number of potential premises in the area. We also requested answers to a number of questions and queries we had in relation to permanent recognition and its implications for financial help. We were promised answers to our questions and queries within ten days.
With our continued work we believed that everything could now proceed to a successful conclusion. However, the department failed to answer our queries or assist in our case. It gradually became clear that although our volunteer committee was working. very hard, the department did not appear to have the same sense of urgency. We contacted it by telephone, fax, and letter on over too occasions since July 11th. We were eventually advised of a further meeting with the department on October 16th.
We believed that this meetings would finally provide us with a solution to our problems but were told by the officials present that they had no news for us. The department laboured for over three months and produced nothing! None of the State sector property had every been queried or investigated by them. We have still not received an answer to our original questions and queries, despite having been promised an answer in ten days, some 19 weeks ago.
Why has the Minister given us no response? It is hard for us to comment on her attitude, as she has never met us. Our plight may be difficult but surely the Minister has a responsibility to nurture pluralism in education. This history does not instil confidence in her commitment to pluralism. There is still time for her to act. Failure to do so will mean that she will be remembered, not for the positive changes that she has introduced in her term in Cabinet, but for the fact that she was the Minister for Education who failed to stop the eviction and closure of a school committed to pluralism in education. A school whose basic aims and principles are for the democratic control by parents of coeducational, child centred and multi denominational education, should be encouraged by the State and not ignored. - Yours, etc., on behalf of the Board of Management of Crumlin Multi
Denominational School,
608 South Circular Road,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.