School of the Holy Spirit Let Down Again
Issued : Tuesday 11 January, 2005
Areas : Kilkenny
Seán condemns the failure of the Minister for Education to fund badly needed building for city special school
SCHOOL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE LET DOWN AGAIN ON FUNDING- Ó hARGÁIN
The news that the School of the Holy Spirit in Kilkenny City has once again been ignored in the announcement of funding for new school buildings has been described as a disgrace by Labour Party councillor, and teacher, Seán Ó hArgáin. Cllr. Ó hArgáin was responding to Monday’s announcement by the Minister of Education, Mary Hanafin T.D., which included only one school in County Kilkenny, Scoil Tobair Mhuire Bhuaic in Thomastown.
He said this was yet another example of the Minister’s failure to recognise the urgency of the situation in the special school, which has been demanding a new premises, and had in fact done everything in their power, including securing a site, and completing their plans. He said the school staff, board of Management and in particular parents and students will be particularly angry at this turn of events. He called on the Minister to immediately make it clear when funding will be made available.
“Minister Hanafin has issued a particularly cryptic statement. She appears to be departing from the welcome practise of recent years, where the Minister announced all school funding on one day. In her statement, she now seems to suggest that we are back to the bad old days of drip-feeding school announcements. The net effect of this of course is to stymie school’s opposition, by leading them to believe that they might be next.
The School of the Holy Spirit have been treated with disdain by the Government, and this Minister in particular. When she visited the school a number of weeks ago, there was widespread hope that she would announce the long-awaited school building, but she failed to do so. Now she announces a list of new schools, including an astonishing 27 schools in Dublin, including many special schools, and ignores the school of the Holy Spirit, which the Department itself has listed as a number 1 priority
The reality also is that this is yet another example of Fianna Fáil ignoring Kilkenny City. It now appears that only a change of Government which will deliver a Government Minister to Kilkenny will give us any chance of delivery on these badly needed projects.”
Cllr 
