Derry Provos campaign to control Irish medium schools
Provisional Sinn Féin in Derry has been campaigning for years to get an irish-medium secondary school closed down so that another one can be set up under their control. Now it looks like they have achieved their goal and the school wil be closed from September.
History:
For about twenty years now, Derry Irish language enthusiasts have worked to establish a full Irish-medium primary and secondary education facility in the city. From the beginning it was a non-party political project and it still is. The first primary school, Bunscoil Cholmcille was started, got recognition and prospered. Then a secondary school, Meánscoil Dhoire was formed to provide for those pupils leaving the Bunscoil who wanted to continue their education through Irish. They did not have official recognition, and were forced to move between several ramshackle premises and scraped and worked to get it going and in 1998 the first students sat for their GCSE's. In the end they joined St Brigid's High School in Shantallow as an "Irish medium unit" on a separate site, to be eligible for government funding. Several naíscoileanna and two other bunscoileanna were started and the prospect looked good for the meánscoil because it seemed likely that there would be more intake from these bunscoileanna as soon as their pupils went through.
The Provos start sniffing around
But it didn't happen. At first it was reported that the head of one of the bunscoileanna, Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir (a shinner), was telling their pupils not to go to the meánscoil. This seemed strange (some people started to suggest that it could have something to do with a possible grant of £2-3 million to extend that bunscoil as a "middle school" up to age 14 and then to develop further to 16 - under provo control). It didn't seem fair to those who had had to work under dreadful conditions to establish a meánscoil, only to have their work undermined by others who had own power agenda (and of course higher salaries would be involved for the headmaster and others! but maybe that's not relevant). Others who were pushing this agenda were Gearóid Ó hÉara, and Donncha Mac Niallais, both provo counsellers who are on the bunscoil's board of governers. Other members of this group then started a malisious whispering campaign against the Meánscoil, spreading false stories of teachers throwing chairs around, etc. Supporters of the Meánscoil put it down to Derry being a small place, jealousy, etc.
So it went on for several years and intake to the Meánscoil dropped from the moment this campaign started.
PSF strikes
Now, in the last few months, several things have happened. First, "Comhairle na Gaelscoilíochta", the body purporting to reperesent all the Irish-medium schools in the Six Counties, posted out a questionnaire to all parents of children in the bunscoileanna asking them for their support for setting up a "proper second-level school in Derry". This seemed strange considering that this body is supposed to represent the interests of the Meánscoil as well, until it was seen that the questionnaires were sent out by Réamaí Mathers - you guessed it, another provo, and good pal of Gearóid Ó hÉara. People protested, and Réamaí promised that he would send out another letter to correct this misinformation - it never happened.
Then, within a few weeks, Gearóid Ó hÉara and friends called a "closed" meeting in the city library for parents who would be interesting in setting up the provo meánscoil, and 150 attended. (where had their children been going to school all this time?), and the CCMS (the controling body of catholic schools).announced that they intended to close the school, a week later. A few days later, the teachers of the Meánscoil were told.
This means that the provos and comhailre na gaelscoilíochta were all in the know about what the CCMS intended long before the teachers themselves and it is obvious the Comhairle was secretly backing the provos all this time.
Another development yesterday was when Gearóid Ó hÉara was confronted about all this while he was shopping in Sainsbury's, he said that the teachers of the meánscoil would be "cleaned out", as they intended to start again from the very bottom.
This leaves the teachers of the meánscoil summarily dismissed and the pupils made to suddenly change to an English-medium school mid-course.
A couple of questions to any shinners reading this:
(1) Does PSF think this is a proper way to treat people who have made great sacrifices to build Irish-medium provision? Is it worthwhile to undermine a school so that they could have control of another one?
(2) Does PSF think this is a proper ways to deal with teachers as employees? Is this how they regard trade unionists?
(3) How much of the money going to be granted for their project will be unaccounted for, just as happened with the huge amount of money spent in the Conradh na Gaeilge headquarters in Derry - where the full-time receptionist doesn't even speaks Irish (but has good "connections")
Is this the way that PSF will gain power in Ireland - with a ballot paper in one hand and a backroom committee in the other?
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Originally Posted by doheochai
They have finally made the move over the border?? 