School forced to close special educational needs centre
Will In Picture The File Corridors And Working Teaching Teachers Landings Spaces, Now In Be Sharing School
A primary school on the northside of Cork City has been forced to close a section worked in by 13 teachers and used for special education.
In correspondence to parents, Scoil Oilibhéir in Ballyvolane said it made the decision this week to permanently close Cill Barra, its special educational needs centre, on health and safety grounds.
“I want to stress to you that this is a hugely disappointing decision that we have been forced to take,” the school said in the letter to parents.
“However, in 2024 no child or teacher should have to work in a building in such a poor state as Cill Barra.”
The school has been pursuing a two-stage building programme with the Department of Education since 2011.
While the first stage of this was completed in 2016, the school has been “consistently” engaging with the department to sanction funding that would allow it to proceed with phase two.
As the years progressed, Cill Barra "deteriorated significantly”.
“It is a prefabricated building that is over 35 years old. A recent consultant engineer's assessment has deemed that Cill Barra is no longer structurally sound and therefore unsafe for teachers and pupils to work in," the letter states.
Teachers in the school will now be sharing teaching spaces, working in corridors and landings.
Despite this, the school said it has put in place systems to ensure the children will still receive the same level of teaching support.
“As always, the staff of Scoil Oilibhéir will continue to put your children first and we will all work hard to ensure that the impact of closing Cill Barra will be kept to an absolute minimum.”
Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central Pádraig O'Sullivan said he was disappointed about the closure of Cill Barra.
“I had been working closely with the school and the Minister to try and reach a successful conclusion in the last few weeks. It's my understanding that the school is awaiting a response. I urge the Minister to now review the application expeditiously in light of the closure.”
Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn called on Minister for Education Norma Foley to provide an "urgent and unequivocal" commitment to secure the necessary funding without delay.
A spokesman for the Department of Education confirmed the school’s building project was approved under the Additional School Accommodation scheme.
The project was devolved to the school authority for delivery.
After it received an architectural design report at the end of 2023, department officials requested additional information in April 2024 from the school to address "certain omissions from this report”, he added.
This information was provided in September 2024 and is currently being reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective, according to the department.
“It is expected that this review will be completed next week and the school authority will be then updated on same.
“The department made the school aware of the availability of the emergency works scheme to address any immediate health and safety issues.”
The department has also arranged a technical visit to the school in order to assess and advise on the immediate health and safety issues, he added.
Scoil Oilibhéir declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the .