Louth TD’s Dail plea on future of Faughart N.S
DAIL APPEAL FOR FUTURE OF TROUBLED NORTH LOUTH SCHOOL TO BE SECURED
AN appeal was made by Louth TD’s in Dail Eireann last week for the current stalemate at Faughart N.S to be addressed by Education Minister Richard Bruton.
Concerns about future of the beleaguered north Louth school were raised by Deputy Declan Breathnach and Gerry Adams TD in Leinster House.
Deputy Breathnach informed the house that Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin had withdrawn as patron of Faughart N.S, which he described as an ‘important step’ in the school’s future.
‘It is the parents’ wish to reopen the school in September under the patronage of the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board. The LMETB has confirmed to me that it is willing to open the school this September under its patronage and thirty families have already filled in an expression of interest form to send their children, both returning and new, to Faughart school under that patronage.’
The Louth TD added: ‘I implore the Minister to meet Archbishop Martin to obtain from him the letter of request needed to enable the transfer of patronage to take place. Any further delay will weaken the spirit of community in the area.’
Deputy Gerry Adams also outlined the ongoing concerns about the future of the school.
‘It is unacceptable that a rural school can close the way that Naoimh Bríd school has. We can ill afford the closure of any rural school. The people of Faughart deserve better.
This is a close knit school community within a wider community who feel let down. They fear that the survival of the school, with no pupils attending it, is in danger.
They believe that, with the intervention of the Minister directly, the school patron and the new management, the school can flourish again. I am sure the Minister will agree that simply standing back and allowing a rural school to close its doors is totally unacceptable.’
Minister for State, Mary Mitchell O’Connor responded: ‘ The Department has been contacted by some of the parties but has indicated this is a matter for the patron. The Department has indicated it would review positively any request to transfer patronage in this case.’
Meanwhile, Archbishop Eamon Martin has said he is ‘obliged to reflect carefully on the needs of the parish of Faughart and of the adjoining parishes before taking a definite decision in relation to the future use of the premises formerly occupied by Scoil Bhrigdhe.’
In a letter responding to the concerns of one parent in the Faughart area, the Archibishop said he had ‘no objection in principle to the possibility that the department, following due process, would make a decision regarding the opening of a new school under different patronage on the former Scoil Bhrigdhe site.’