An unsporting deal

PERHAPS predictably, Sports Minister Shane Ross was roundly condemned in certain quarters for securing a €150,000 grant for Wesley College in Ballinteer, south Dublin, to fund the resurfacing of its hockey pitch among other projects.

His critics point out that the sports facilities in the private school situated in the minister’s constituency are already second to none and include four rugby pitches, 16 tennis courts, two full-size hockey AstroTurf pitches as well as a full complement of amenities for cricket, basketball and soccer, and a fully equipped gym.

Compared to the students of Clonkeen College in Deansgrange, who in a bid to stop their sports pitches being sold to a property developer protested outside the Dáil last week or indeed the pupils of St Paul’s School, Raheny, who have already seen some of their playing fields sold for development, the students of Wesley College are hardly in need of a helping hand.

But questioning whether Wesley deserves a state grant is to miss the point entirely.

The real issue here is education inequality – and that will only be solved by providing decent funding to every school in the country, so that they all have top-class facilities, on a par with Wesley.