All but one local school shut their doors on Monday

MOST SCHOOLS around County Wexford remained closed on Monday, following the effects of Storm Emma and the Beast from the East snowstorm, but one rural school, which caters for around 180 pupils operated as normal.

As the weather worsened on Wednesday, all schools in Wexford took the decision to close on Thursday and Friday, when the heaviest snowfalls were beginning to hit. Due to considerable snow accumulations, and Health and Safety reasons, most schools remained closed yesterady (Monday) with further updates to be announced as they were available. The Wexford Campus of Carlow IT remained closed on Monday and Tuesday as it was without a water supply and did not know when it would be restored.

The school that did manage to open was Marshalstown National School and it is believed that it was the only school in the county to do so.

School Principal Michelle O’Neill said she had met with the school caretaker and Fr Danny McDonald from the Board of Management on Sunday to inspect the school and ensure that there were no issues that could prevent them from opening. ‘We had about three-quarters of the usual student body. Everyone was happy to see the school opened. The school is safe as long as people take their time. Classes are going ahead as planned, though we did keep the kids indoors at break time.’ She said that, locally, a number of people with machinery had worked to clear the roads and the school then enlisted the help of Tom Swaine who cleared the school yard and entry points. The school was one of five that was due to have a Confirmation at the weekend.

Ms O’Neill explained: ‘It was scheduled for Friday so we postponed it to today. Then, on Saturday, we decided that we would further postpone it to this Friday as we did not know how long the thaw would take.’

The other schools that had to reschedule Confirmations were: Crossabeg NS, Ballymurn NS, the Gaelscoil Enniscorthy and St Aidan’s National School.