Pupils have to layer up in freezing school
A PRIMARY school’s pupils and teachers are forced to wear coats, hats and scarves in classes, due to the dire state of the building.
Nearly 300 children, some as young as four, and 25 staff have to layer up at Lismullen NS, near Navan, Co. Meath,
‘The heat goes straight back out’
which has been waiting 17 years for new buildings.
The school is so run-down that the staff share one toilet and the heating has to be turned on at 4am, in the hope it will have warmed up the rooms before pupils and staff arrive five hours later.
School principal Violet Molloy said: ‘An insurance official who inspected told me it was the worst school building he had ever seen.
‘We have one building which is 70 years old, another one that is 32 years old, and a lot of Portacabins. Essentially the place is not fit for purpose.
‘I am only here 18 months and am fighting the same battle all my predecessors have fought for the last 17 years. We were first promised a new build back in 2007.
‘The roof is caving in and it is almost pointless turning the heat on as the windows are paper thin and there is almost no insulation, so the heat goes straight back out again.
‘The place is so cold pupils and teachers have to keep their coats, hats and scarves on in the winter months.
‘We have heard the contract to build a new place has gone out to tender but we don’t know if construction will start this year,’ she added.
Meath East TD Darren O’Rourke raised the matter in the Dáil last week and Minister of State for Education Josepha Madigan told him: ‘Lismullen NS remains a priority for the department.’
Meath County Council chairman Tommy Reilly is furious over the school’s long wait.
He said: ‘The staff are doing their very best in these conditions but they cannot be left like this any longer. I am eagerly awaiting Education Minister Norma Foley’s response and I look forward to finally getting an answer on when the build will begin.’
The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.