Efforts to get funding for one Wexford school stymied by councillors from rival districts

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Efforts to have one Co Wexford school included in the government’s building programme for the next two years have been stymied by councillors from rival districts. In January of this year, the Department of Education published a list of 105 school building projects it intended to progress between now and the end of 2027

That list included just one school from Co Wexford: Our Lady of Fatima Special School in Wexford town.

And at the March meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor Marty Murphy submitted a motion in which he called upon the Department of Education to “immediately include Ramsgrange Community School in the current schools building programme so that it can proceed to tender for its major redevelopment project."

While the motion was swiftly seconded by Cllr Pat Barden, there were others who had concerns.

“I’m not sure we as councillors can direct the department to do things like that,” noted Cllr Oliver Walsh. “And I’m sure all 34 members here would love to see their school put on the list.”

As principal of the CBS Primary School in Wexford town, Cllr Vicky Barron said she felt “conflicted” because her school wasn’t on the list either.

“We should be asking for them all to be on the list. I would query why we might ask for just one,” she said. "The pot is finite, there are limited resources for building schools. If we are including Ramsgrange are we asking another school to be removed from the list?

This view was shared by her fellow teacher, Cllr Tom Forde, who agreed that it was a case of all, or none, and by Cllr Pat Kehoe who requested that the motion be amended to include all schools which had applied for funding for redevelopment works.

Although it appeared as if every school in the county had works which required urgent funding, Cllr Barbara Anne Murphy referenced the lengthy planning processes involved.

“What stage are these schools at in the process?” she asked. “Because, for example, Bunclody Community College is at stage 2B right now and, at the moment, it’s case of ‘2B or not 2B’ with that project.”

Attending the meeting remotely from the United States, Cllr Marty Murphy remained defiant in his commitment to Ramsgrange.

“I believe the motion should stand as is, I’m not looking for any amendments to it,” he insisted.

However, as Cllr Garry Laffan pointed out, once a motion has been amended and seconded it must be put to a vote. And so, after Cllr Barron explained that only the schools which had reached stage 2B of the planning process were ready to be approved for funding, an amended motion calling for all schools in Co Wexford which are at “stage 2B, or further, of the planning process” to be included in the schools building programme was put to a vote.

That motion was subsequently carried and will now be forwarded to the Department of Education for review.