'Tea and sympathy is not enough' on special school places in Waterford
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, Waterford TD Conor McGuinness and Cllr Kate O’Mahoney pictured in Lawlor's Hotel, Dungarvan with Rebecca Meehan, special schools campaigner.
Waterford TD Conor McGuinness has called on the government to back up their “platitudes” with “action and real delivery” on the issue of children in Waterford with special educational needs being unable to get places in special schools.
“The clear message from parents is that action and real delivery must follow the platitudes given by [the] Government over recent weeks,” Deputy McGuinness said.
“Tea and sympathy from the Minister is simply not good enough - appropriate school spaces for these children is the only meaningful metric.”
The Sinn Féin TD met with parents of children who were unable to secure a place in special schools in Dungarvan alongside Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald and Cllr Kate O’Mahoney – who was co-opted onto the Council following Deputy McGuinness’s recent General Election success.
The West Waterford TD said he has been “engaging with parents from the day they were first informed there would be no space locally for their children”.
“David Cullinane and I have raised the issue in the Dáil on many occasions and we jointly hosted a delegation of parents in Leinster House last month. Mary Lou McDonald raised the Dungarvan situation with the Taoiseach last week during Leaders Questions in the Dáil.”
Deputy McGuinness characterised the Government’s response as ‘hand wringing’ and called for more action on the issue: “The response from Government has been to wring their hands, offer empty platitudes, and state how much worse the situation could be. This is not good enough.“
“I will continue to work with [those] impacted to push for a resolution. In the short-term, that means using modular units to increase capacity, but ultimately we need a new, larger home for St. John's in Dungarvan, coupled with additional special education spaces across Waterford.”
Waterford's Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler recently announced that 11 special classes had been sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) for the coming school year 2025/2026, including one in each of CBS Secondary School and Ard Scoil na nDéise - both located in Dungarvan.
