Mayo councillors condemn Department of Education for pitting Westport schools against each other

WESTPORT councillors have condemned the Department of Education for 'pitting two schools against each other' by their decision to offer the old Scoil Phádraig site in Westport to a local secondary school.

Members of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District have called on officials from the Department of Education to appear before them and explain the rationale behind the decision to offer the Sacred Heart Secondary School the use of the Scoil Phádraig NS site on Altamount Street on a temporary basis.

The site had been earmarked as the location of the new Holy Trinity NS building but the  Church of Ireland school community were informed that the Altamount Street site has now been offered as a 'solution for urgent temporary accommodation needs' for the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Westport.

The four Westport-based councillors all criticised the decision of the Department at the March meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District.

Fianna Fáil councillor Brendan who raised the issue at the meeting called on the management of the Sacred Heart School to reject the offer and allow Holy Trinity to continue to plan for a new school at Altamount Street.

“The Department once again is pitting two Westport schools against each other but it is in the remit of the Sacred Heart School to refuse this offer because it is only an offer of temporary accommodation. The Sacred Heart School building is not fit for purpose and they need a new standalone school themselves but the Department has asked them to take on this site and I would ask them to reject this offer,” he said.

Cllr Mulroy said he has written to the Minister for Education, Norma Foley in relation to what her Department have proposed and stated that the Holy Trinity community have been treated abysmally by the department.

“The rest of the country seems to have awful difficulty with people of different religions getting on with each other but we never had that problem in Westport town. If you look in from the outside and see the way the Church of Ireland community have been treated in Westport by the Department of Education this will have a knock-on effect on the Good Friday Agreement. I hate to bring that into it but it has and everyone has to be treated equally. I don't think the Holy Trinity and Church of Ireland community should be treated in this way and it is time for the Department to stop messing with the Holy Trinity community,” he said.

Independent councillor Christy Hyland called on officials from the Department of Education to travel to Westport and explain why they were causing division in the community.

“They have pitted one school against another and how dare the department do that to our community. The people from Holy Trinity NS have children who go to the Sacred Heart School and it is horrendous that the department has fostered this in our community. We pride ourselves in this town on working together and how dare some officials in the department cause this divide in our community. We will not allow it,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn said that the Department's decision was a bolt out of the blue which puts more uncertainty on when the new Holy Trinity school will be built.

“The problem with Holy Trinity is they have been too polite in some ways. They assumed good will on behalf of the department and others and unfortunately it has backfired on them spectacularly,” he said while adding that now may be the time for dialogue on second level education in the town.

“Time has moved on and the days of boys in one school and girls in another are behind us. This may be a trigger for having that conversation,” he said.

Cllr John O'Malley also condemned the attitude of the department towards Holy Trinity stating that the site on Altamount Street was gifted to the school community and they should be allowed to build there.

“The Sacred Heart School never asked for that building [Scoil Phádraig] so I do not know what the Department of Education are trying to do but it is very wrong what they are trying to do with Holy Trinity. The building was gifted to them and they should be allowed to build their school. They have 60 pupils and they don't know if they are coming or going. The Department needs to wise up and let Holy Trinity get on with their school,” he said.