The mother of two, Filipa Fernandes, was taken aback following an unexpected announcement last month indicating that her children’s secondary school in Ongar, on the outskirts of Dublin, would be relocated over 8km away, to Hollywoodrath.
Fernandes expressed her shock referring to it as an unexpected blow. Ériu Community College, which was established in 2020 to serve Ongar’s growing population, was declared by the Department of Education last month to be set for permanent relocation to Mulhuddart and Tyrellstown in a different school zone.
Parents took to streets in protest over the proposal of shifting the secondary school 8km afar, expressing their anger by carrying signs reading “save our school” and “we are skipping classes to teach you a lesson” during a demonstration outside Leinster House last Thursday.
Fernandes vocalized her concerns about the potential loss of the community spirit that had flourished during her children’s walk to school where they used to gather their friends on their way. She revealed that a 40-minute car ride was necessary to get to the proposed new location after having tried it recently, with no available bus services as an alternative to commuting.
Lindy Greene, a mother of a secondary school and a primary school student, who had originally planned for both her daughters to attend the same school, disclosed the stress she’s been dealing with post announcement, leaving her contemplating whether to move her children to another school. She expressed her hopes for overturning the decision of the Department of Education along with local politicians who expressed full backing of the parents’ movements and campaigns.
Senator Emer Currie (Fine Gael) who is a member of the school board, expressed her concern about the lack of consultation on the shift of a school location. Highlighting the sensitivity of the issue, she pointed out that the booming community around Hollywoodrath (a suburb near Dublin Airport) was in need of a new school, but simply relocating an existing one was not the solution. As she forecasts, the need for new educational establishments in this area is likely to increase in the future.
Supporting Senator Currie’s opinion is Cllr John Walsh (Labour) – also a school board member and its founding chair. He termed the decision as being ‘disastrous’, stating that it demonstrated a lack of comprehension of the local conditions and the insufficiencies in the public transportation within Dublin 15. He also mentioned the growing concern amongst the parents, who fear potential harm to the school.
The Department of Education explained their move, stating that they made the decision based on demographic data collected from 314 school planning areas. The Department stated the Ériu Community College was set up to serve the areas of Blanchardstown/West Dublin 15 and Blanchardstown village/Dublin 15. They found that there’s a higher anticipated need for secondary school places in the Mulhuddart/Tyrrelstown area through a recent analysis. This led to the decision to situate the permanent school site on State-owned land in Hollywoodrath. They also added that this move would free up space in the existing secondary institutions in the Blanchardown region such as Hansfield Educate Together, Coláiste Pobail Setanta and other schools.
Cllr Ruth Coppinger (People Before Profit-Solidarity), however, had a different opinion, claiming that this decision was simply a near-sighted way to save funds. She viewed it as a letdown for the parents who were under the impression that the permanent site would be close to the current location or at least remain within the catchment area of Ériu.