Parents are putting their children's names on the waiting list for Gaelscoil Ui Cheadaigh in Bray, just a few weeks after they are born, such is the demand for places at the Co Wicklow town's second Irish language national school.
In little over five years the school has grown from a mere five pupils to a vibrant 135 and the there seems no end to its growth. Ever since the first gaelscoil in Bray, Scoil Chualann, reached its limit of places, Scoil Ui Cheadaigh has been inundated with applications. But the school has become a victim of its own success - and of the strict rules and regulations governing the set up of Irish language education, according to principal Gearoidin Ni Bhaoill.
"The way Irish schools are set up, parents have to get together, find a site and fund a school. We've done all that and have been very successful, but because we're growing so rapidly we've totally outgrown our present building," she says. Gaelscoil Ui Cheadaigh has already moved twice to accommodate the increasing numbers of pupils at the school and it is currently located in a large Victorian-style house which is more suited to student flats than a place of education.
"There's a number of problems caused by the sheer lack of space in the classrooms. Some teachers don't have a desk or a chair; there's no personal space for the pupils, and we have to store things under the children's desk along with their schoolbags," says Ni Bhaoill.
Even working on Hallowe'en decorations or using a computer is a major logistical operation for pupils and teachers alike. There is only one good-sized classroom in the school, the rest of the classes are converted bedrooms. Some classes are held in the basement beside the break area, causing disruption for at least an hour every day.
The school yard is literally just that - a small yard - where close to 75 children play around a couple of trees twice a day. The staple sports found in other schools such as football and basketball aren't possible here.
"There are also health and safety issues," says Jacynta Ni Chathallain,
a new teacher at the school. "It's basically a house which isn't suitable as a school. I've got fourth and fifth classes, 24 pupils in total. It's very cramped and with large windows it's not safe to open them although we clearly need some form of ventilation."
The Department of Education has fully accredited Gaelscoil Ui Cheadaigh and have instructed the school to look for a new site but the main problem is the lack of suitable sites in the Bray area. One parent with a child at the school - and member of the management board - Geraldine Whelan, spent 15 years in Canada, and is critical of the whole approach to this State's Irish language education.
`IT'S A rather bizarre way to run an education system. If this was in a French-speaking area of Canada there would be murder. There should be more support for the language and the gaelscoil system."
"Now we've proved that we are a viable school and have outgrown our present building, it is impossible to find a new site.
"It's almost as if we're being treated like some strange cult rather than supporters of the national language," she says. Gearoidin Ni Bhaoil and the management board are angry at the failure of the town council to address the problem in its revised plan for Bray.
"I've ended up spending my free time looking for suitable sites for the school and I know that other parents on the board of management are doing the same but it's a Bray problem - there is a real shortage of sites," says Ni Bhaoil.
"Educational needs don't seem to register as high up the agenda as housing and commercial interests. Land has recently been re-zoned for commercial use. I've even gone to two oral hearings with An Bord Plenala to argue the case for the school, but to no avail," says Ni Bhaoil.
A meeting between the school's management and Bray councillors is expected to take place within the next few weeks and teachers and pupils alike are hoping that the situation can be resolved. "Children only come here for eight years and we want to provide them with as many opportunities as possible. We're holding out hope for a new building. "But I just don't know what we'll do next year when a new class is introduced to the school; there just isn't any classroom for them," says Ni Bhaoill.
