Local parents in Dáil protest over SNA cuts
A GROUP of concerned parents from Newbridge lead a chant of 'shame on you' at a sitting of the Dail last Wednesday with the newly appointed Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan.
The group, who represent parents with children in all the various primary schools in Newbridge, were invited by Minister, Brian Hayes (TD) Fine Gael Spokesperson on Education to view a private motion on the freeze of Special Needs Assistant Cuts held in the Dail Chambers on Wednesday 31 March from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.
"It was full of parents from all over the country who booed the government's response to the cutbacks," explained spokesperson Ger Keeley.
"They informed us that three hundred and fifty eight SNA posts are gone and we were told that the ten posts displaced from Newbridge will go to another county but that is no good to us. Appartently feedback from the gallery doesn't happen, so they were quite taken aback when we began to chant "shame on you, shame on you."
According to Ger there was a large group from all over the country invited to view these proceedings from the public gallery in the Dail. The group was made up of parents, teachers, Special Needs Assistants (SNA's), principals and a handful of children.
"There was well over 120 people in the public gallery on Wednesday night, including many Kildare councillors Cllr. Paddy Kennedy Independent and Cllr. Martin Hayden," she added.
"Strong feelings were present in the gallery, which reflect the outrage, hurt and feelings of let down by our Government on this very strong emotive issue. It was also very evident that the Government party appeared to be somewhat taken aback at this unprecedented reaction from the public gallery and when the vote had been taken at the end of the motion, Ministers and TD's looked up in disbelief at the parents, teachers, SNA's and children in the public gallery who were visibly angry at the Government."
The Newbridge group on behalf of all parents of primary school children have vowed to continue to petition the local TDs Sean Power and Jack Wall Labour and the local councillors on this issue.
"We need to ensure that our children's voices are heard.
"We intend meeting with Minister Mary Coughlan in Leinster House in the next couple of months and we will continue to represent the views and feelings of all Newbridge parents who have been communicating with us regarding the removal of SNA support in our Newbridge primary schools."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Naas, Ireland
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 7 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North east
