Gaelcholaiste Reachrann in Donaghmede has had 24 years of waiting for promised facilities.
A northside school community says they’ve been left behind by the Department of Education.
Gaelcholaiste Reachrann in Donaghmede has been waiting for 24 years for a promised facilities.
It opened in 2001, has been left to stagnate ever since.
The school has never had a permanent building, school hall, library or canteen.
Instead, prefabs are used for classrooms, and it’s also using buildings belonging to another school in the area.
The five TD’s for the area have come together to promise to push to get the school its much needed rebuild.
Cian O’Callaghan (SD), Barry Henehgan (IND), Tom Brabazon (FF), Denise Mitchell (SF), and Naoise Ó Muirí (FG), all went on a tour around the Gaelcholaiste Reachrann today.
They were invited to the school to see for themselves, the conditions the pupils and staff are working in after previous governments failed to secure them a permanent building despite a lengthy wait of over two decades.
When asked about what’s causing the delays, Deputy Tom Brabzon explained:
“There has been a number of issues.
“The original planning permission that was granted a number years back, it didn’t meet with the criteria for the environmental policies that were being introduced, it didn’t have solar panels so, the whole building had to be redesigned.
“The planning permission was resubmitted again to the local authority and that was granted so, we’re now at a stage where the Department is telling us it’s in stage 4 for tendering but how long have we hearing that for.
“We just need to see that it’s going to be delivered.”
Frustrations have been rising in the school community and just two weeks before the election the pupils of the school staged walk-out in protest at the previous government’s lack of action.
4,000 people also signed a petition calling on the Department of Education to intervene and improve standards in the school.
Locals are hoping the newly elected TD’s will stand good on their promises.
