Carrick-on-Shannon Primary School: TDs push for Minister decision as delays drag on

Frustration resurfaced this week at a meeting between the Board of Management of Scoil Mhuire, local authority officials, and the four Sligo–Leitrim TDs — Martin Kenny (Sinn Féin), Marian Harkin (Independent), Eamon Scanlon (Fianna Fáil) and Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) — over the long-delayed new primary school for Carrick-on-Shannon.

The land for a new school has now been zoned for education, but it remains in private ownership and cannot be acquired until the Department of Education authorises the next step. “From our perspective, we’ve zoned the site and completed our part of the job. But nothing can move until the Department gives the go-ahead,” the Director of Finance with Leitrim County Council Vincent Dwyer explained.

Chairperson of the board of management Malachy Molloy says after 12 years, they cannot wait any longer: “The Council has done its part. The board is ready. What we need now is clear authorisation from the Minister. Without it, we’ll still be sitting here in another six months, having the same conversation.”

Deputies told the board they continue to receive vague replies from the Department. Deputy Marian Harkin said she had spoken with officials and had got nowhere: “I’ve tried several times. I won’t pretend otherwise — I haven’t made any progress. The Minister listens to her officials, and the same official advising this Minister was advising the last one.”

Another TD read directly from a Department response: “The Department acknowledges the ongoing local discussions concerning potential sites for new schools in Carrick-on-Shannon. While there are currently no definitive plans in place, they will continue to engage… but that’s as far as it goes. No confirmation. No commitment.”

Louise Murray, who leads the New School Committee, said the delays have gone far beyond what is acceptable: “It’s coming up on 13 years since this campaign began. We’ve had pupils taught in corridors, and rotten floors patched. We had a technical report carried out which shows the building is not fit for purpose. The teachers and children deserve better.”

A Department-commissioned technical report on Scoil Mhuire, carried out in August 2021, highlighted serious health and safety concerns, including roof leaks, possible asbestos in roof sheeting, undersized classrooms, mould growth, and fire safety issues where storage areas and corridors had been converted into teaching spaces. It listed the urgent defects as: lack of emergency lighting, inner room fire risks, asbestos risk, and leaking roofs — all of which need immediate action. As the report states, “both existing sites are too small” and the buildings are “not fit for purpose,” reinforcing the board’s call for a new school on a single site.

She also criticised the waste of money on temporary accommodation: “They’re talking about pumping nearly a million euro into two prefabs. That’s madness. It’s money wasted when we need a permanent school.”

The Gaelscoil issue was also raised, with board members rejecting the Department’s line that there is “sufficient capacity” in Carrick. “Capacity in substandard prefabs is not capacity. And families who cannot send their children to an Irish-language school have no other option — Scoil Mhuire is where they go. This building is not fit for purpose.”

One member added that inclusion must be recognised in the debate: “Children from migrant families and those with learning difficulties all come here, because this is the school that caters for everyone. You can’t just say there’s ‘a place’ somewhere else.” The meeting concluded with agreement that the four TDs would sign a joint letter seeking a meeting with the Minister and senior officials directly.

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