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Updated 19.05
SCOIL NÁISIÚNTA INIS Meáin, the sole primary school on the Aran Island off the coast of Galway, has fought a protracted campaign in recent times to have a second teacher instated at the school.
Today there was some good news at last for parents and principal (and currently sole teacher) Orlaith Breathnach as global insurance group Zurich Insurance have stepped into the fold and pledged to help fund a second teacher for the school.
The arrangement will only be in place for the next two years however.
The school had lost its second teacher in 2012 when its number of pupils fell below Department of Education regulatory levels.
“We are absolutely delighted, and so grateful, that Zurich have set in, and even if it is only a short-term solution,” islander and parent Máiréad Ní Fhatharta told TheJournal.ie.
This is an accumulation of our campaign and the media campaign I think you can say, and it’s amazing that we have gotten a result at last.
At the same time it is worrying and alarming that a private multinational has had to step in. If I were in government I would be wondering greatly about that fact.
Previously the Department of Education told TheJournal.ie that their decision not to furnish the school with a second teacher for the coming academic year could be appealed in October.
In response Breathnach, a Dubliner settled on the island, told us that if something wasn’t done soon the end result would see the island depopulating.
“What will happen is people won’t be happy to send their children to school here,” she said.
What other choice will they have but to leave the island? And very, very quickly the island will be gone.
Meanwhile, CEO of Zurich Europe Patrick Manley said that he and his company are “proud to be able to step in and pledge our support”.
Inis Meáin is a stronghold of the Irish language. The language, and the very sustainability of the island is under threat if families there cannot avail of a good level of education for their children.
But looking beyond that two year horizon, Zurich also supports the community’s efforts to secure the permanent appointment of a second teacher on the island.
Ní Fhatharta, who has one daughter enrolled in the school and hope to send her son there when he’s old enough, agrees.
“I would have my concerns for the future,” she said.
We’ve had a very public campaign with a lot of personal time gone into this. I think it’s quite alarming nationally and a great injustice that we are in this situation in the first place.
That our children should be condemned with a substandard education is very worrying.
In a statement this evening the Department of Education declined to comment directly on the situation saying “it is not the policy of the Department of Education and Skills to comment on matters that do not relate to the approved staffing allocation of an individual school”.
The enrolment of SN Inis Meáin does not meet the requirement for the appointment of a second teacher.
An appeals process is available to small schools in the event that they can show that their projected enrolments are sufficient to allow them to retain the classroom teacher in the longer term.
The Department has not received a staffing appeal from SN Inis Meáin.
Originally published 16.35
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Congrats to all the winners.
We could do with some good news articles for a change. How about restaurants and takeaways that went above and beyond to service customers in a brutal 2020 year? Or best reviewed meal kits from 2020? Some many in that industry are doing their best. But it’s easy to call out the few bad apples.
@Keith Richardson: sorry my comment meant for Keith
@Keith Richardson: agree one of local takeaways offered free meals to people who needed a meal at start of lockdown 2.0 . always support them and throw a larger than average tip in to them.
@Keith Richardson: this is important public health information from the Food Safety Authority. It gets printed periodically in many Irish news outlets a for reasons of public health. The journal have been doing it for a long time.
Anyways you don’t have to look far for the kind banal pop journalism you’re raving about there. You can find “the best of this or that” literally everywhere
Personally I’d prefer to know if a restaurant/bar/cafe near was serving dubious food so I would know to avoid it. They don’t all get closed down immediately
Perhaps you are happy enough funnelling any old tripe down your gullet but I am not
A bit light on detail
@Denis Leane: the details would have been published at the time the order was made to close, the orders are published every month
I’m thinking of opening a sushi takeaway. Anyone got a spare bedroom so I can get the cooking done?
@Levante Dublin: cooking? Sushi ? I thought that’s the beauty of sushi you only need a bedroom. No kitchen necessary. A knife and a cutting board and you’re made
@Levante Dublin: agree…. The Press love negativity…. what about all those bars and restaurants that abide by the law and are pristine…. probably 99+%
@Ian Forbes: reporting facts isn’t being negative. By default they SHOULD be pristine.
@Jakie McLean: sushi technically refers to the rice, I believe, which does need to be cooked. As such,you can get various types where all ingredients are cooked. Like with sushi involving chicken.
@Ian Forbes: News is news, it isn’t positive or negative
@Jakie McLean: rice!
@Ian Forbes: i look at it the other way, so many good restaurants and the little few bad ones. It’s a good news story.
@Levante Dublin: only need to cook the rice
Couldn’t we introduce a food hygiene rating as they have in the UK, as the activity of the Irish Food Safety Authority is not particularly transparent
@Jules: True story. I grew up in Coventry and as a kid every Friday we got food from the same chippy. I since moved to Dublin but I, and my three siblings, were back to see my mother who ill and hospitalised at the time. We did the nostalgia tour and went to the chippy for dinner. They had a half a star out of 5 rating…
@Jules: the food in the UK is muck. Their food quality and standards are deplorable compared to ours
@Denise Ní Cinnseala: what a silly sweeping comment
Cáitín
Name and shame
@Mark Gaffney: the names are on the FSAI website.
Gives new meaning to the phrase “dishing the dirt”.
Is there any within 5 km of me.? I feel hungry
Mostly Pakistani s
Is this a dirty article?
Where’s the ?
Name & Shame the business and its owners!
This will continue otherwise simple as!
which restaurants in Cork?
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