New Catholic schools reflect parental demand – education chief

Two new Catholic schools are part of nine new post-primary schools announced by the Department of Education
and Skills.

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn’s decision to establish two new Catholic post-primary schools in Cork has been welcomed by a senior education chief.

Ferdia Kelly, General Secretary of the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) told The Irish Catholic he welcomed in particular the fact that “the decision reflected the wishes of parents who had demonstrated demand for a Catholic school” in the area.

Parental demand

“I understand these were the only two areas where Catholic patrons applied and it is notable that in both cases there is strong parental demand for the proposed school,” he said.

The two schools are part of nine new post-primary schools announced by the Department of Education and Skills.

Four of the new schools will be under the patronage of Educate Together, two will be run by the local Education and Training Boards (ETB) which replaced the former VECs, one by the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST), one jointly by the local ETB and Educate Together and the final school will be managed by the local ETB with the involvement of the Catholic Bishop of Cloyne.

The Edmund Rice Schools Trust school in Cork south suburbs/Carrigaline is the only one to have a patronage that is exclusively Catholic.

The nine new schools will be opened in 2015 and 2016, and will provide spaces for 7,300 students in areas of Cork, Cavan, Dublin and north Wicklow.

Five will be large schools catering for more than 1,000 students.