Leitrim school waiting 30 years for additional accommodation

The principal of Leckaun National School in North Leitrim was a pupil in third class when the school originally applied for additional accommodation in 1993.

“Last August she was told the application was at the final stage of assessment, that’s 30 years later,” Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin told Junior Education Minister Thomas Byrne in Leinster House.

The Deputy was participating in a Dáil debate on a Labour Party motion calling for action on delays in the School Building Programme.

She reminded Minister Byrne that she has written to Minister Norma Foley and the Department about a number of schools with accommodation needs in her constituency but wanted to mention the needs of two in particular; Leckaun NS and Scoil Mhuire in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Ms Harkin explained that Leckaun NS has four teachers with two classrooms. Each classroom is about 30 sq metres in size catering for 25 pupils, allowing about a metre square per pupil.

“The special education teacher is teaching in the corridor and for 10 hours a week the school office is used for teaching English to Ukrainian students, leaving no space for a principal or a school secretary. Minister it is a great school in a vibrant community, but pupils and teachers are packed like sardines. There are real health and safety issues that have to be addressed with additional accommodation. I would ask please that you would give it your best attention,” she said.

Scoil Mhuire, Carrick-on-Shannon

Ms Harkin then drew the Minister’s attention to the situation at Scoil Mhuire in Carrick-on-Shannon.  

“In 2013 two schools amalgamated and since then the number of pupils has doubled and the schools are struggling to cope across two campuses. A technical report from your own Department has painted a damning picture of conditions at the school's undersized classrooms.

“Major defects include poor ventilation, water ingress under the floor, cracks on the walls, storage spaces and corridors are converted into special education rooms. The school is on two campuses and both campuses are too small for a new school to be built.

“Is Scoil Mhuire one of the 58 delayed school building projects?” the Deputy asked, “I don't know and nobody seems to know what's happening. It's causing huge concern in the schools and the school communities.

“Parents, teachers, boards of management, pupils, the Local Authority, literally everybody in Carrick-on-Shannon is saying a new primary school is an absolute necessity and must be delivered,” Ms Harkin concluded.