Laois in desperate need of two new primary schools

FACED with a rapidly rising population, Co Laois is in desperate need of swift development of at least two more primary schools.

School places have become so competitive in Portlaoise that many children are having to be bussed to primary schools in surrounding catchment areas or even neighbouring counties, which is fracturing local communities and also putting a strain on already traffic-heavy roads and an at-capacity public transport infrastructure system.

At the latest meeting of Portlaoise municipal district, Cllr Paddy Buggy urged Laois Co Council to make provision for two new primary schools in the Portlaoise Local Area Plan. Expressing his rationale for the request, he said: "Nationally, birth rates are declining and the one exception is the midlands, particularly Portlaoise, where we are expanding at a tremendous rate and we need to start planning and identifying that we will need more schools going forward and instead of waiting on the department to decide whether we do or don't, we should be doing it now and putting it into our plan for there to be at least two more schools."

Cllr Buggy underscored his concerns that young primary school pupils were being bussed out of their own neighbourhoods to attend school far from their own communities, with the tragic result being that when they return home after studies or for the weekend, they don't know the children who are their immediate neighbours.

The motion was seconded by Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, who highlighted her own experience fighting the Department of Education for school and other developments in the past. She said: "I'm also mindful of the fact that in 2016, I actually canvassed for the patronage of Coláiste Dunamaise at the new sight and now, ten years on, we're just on the planning permission, which is great, but the length of time it took was crazy."

Cllr Dwayne Stanley made a point of mentioning that she was on the board of LOETB – Laois-Offaly Education and Training Board – and offered to help throw the organisation’s weight behind Cllr Buggy’s proposal but cautioned that the real crux of the issue lay in getting the Department of Education to actually sign up to the plan.

The independent councillor went on to reference another previous attempt at securing a department writ for a new school, which was again rebuffed: "We had our ducks lined up and that went off to the department and we got the most disgraceful letter from the department saying that we didn't need a new primary school, that the catchment areas in the nearby towns would suffice. We, all of us in this room, need a new primary school, but how do we convince the department, who seem to be living on a different planet, I don't know."

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