For Filipa Fernandes, a mother of two, the news came out of the blue.
“It was like a bomb was dropped on us,” she said of an announcement last month that her children’s secondary school in Ongar, in northwest Dublin, will relocate more than 8km away to Hollywoodrath.
Ériu Community College, which opened in Ongar in 2020, was established to serve the growing population of the local area.
Last month, the Department of Education announced that it will move the school’s permanent location to a different school catchment area in the Mulhuddart and Tyrellstown area.
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When Fernandes tried the route by car one morning recently, she said it took 40 minutes to get to her planned location.
“The traffic is massive. There is no bus service to get there – nothing at all,” she said. “My children walk to school. They knock on their friends’ doors along the way. There is a group of 10 of them by the time they arrive at the school gates. They cycle, they scoot. All that will be lost – all that sense of community.”
Dozens of parents and schoolchildren protested outside Leinster House on Thursday against the plans, holding placards reading “save our school” and “we are skipping lessons to teach you a lesson”.
Lindy Greene has a daughter in second year and another daughter in primary school, who she said was due to attend the same school. Now she is considering withdrawing both her children.
“It’s been very stressful since the announcement,” she said. “We’re wondering should we move the children? Is there a chance of getting into another school? Will there be a mass exodus? What do we do with siblings? We can’t travel to the new location ... we just want to keep our school.”
Local politicians say they fully support the parents’ campaign and want the Department of Education’s decision reversed.
“There’s been absolutely no consultation about this,” said Senator Emer Currie (Fine Gael), a member of the school board. “It’s very short-sighted ... they need a new school in Hollywoodrath [a suburb close to Dublin Airport] but the answer isn’t to take this school away from this growing community. This area is only going to need more new places in the future.”
Cllr John Walsh (Labour), also a member of the board and founding chair of the school, said it was a “disastrous” decision.
“It shows no understanding of local realities and the public transport constraints in Dublin 15. It’s caused consternation among parents and there’s a real fear it may be very damaging for the school.”
The Department of Education said plans for school provision were made on the basis of demographic data across 314 school planning areas.
It said Ériu Community College was established to serve the Blanchardstown area. However, recent analysis shows there is greater projected demand for more second-level places in the Mulhuddart/Tyrrelstown area.
This, it said, led to its decision to locate the school’s permanent site on State-owned land at Hollywoodrath.
A department spokesperson said it was satisfied that existing schools in the Blanchardstown area - such as Hansfield Educate Together, Coláiste Pobail Setanta and others - could “adequately cater for children residing in these areas”.
Any additional capacity needed to meet rising demand from new residential development in the area could be catered for with extensions to these existing schools.
“It is acknowledged that re-locating the school may cause difficulty for some of the current school community. However, it is hoped that the impact will be reduced with careful management by the school authority. It is anticipated that the current school population will be close to completing post primary education in advance of the re-location,” the spokesman said.
However, Cllr Ruth Coppinger (People Before Profit-Solidarity) said the decision was “nothing but a short-term money-saving measure”.
“This is a betrayal to parents who expected the permanent site would be at or near the current location, or certainly in the catchment area of Ériu.”
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