Ballinamore school fire was arson attack

It has emerged that the fire, which burned down a large part of Meanscoil Fatima in Ballinamore in the early hours of Tuesday morning, January 5, was started deliberately. Gardaí in Carrick-on-Shannon confirmed to The Anglo-Celt that they are investigating the arson attack with Superintendent James Kearins heading up the investigation. Meanwhile, the principal of the school is appealing to members of the public for a number of school books, which were destroyed in the blaze. Commenting on the arson attack, Padraig Leyden said: "Shock turned to disbelief and anger as it was discovered during the day that the school had been deliberately burned." He's encouraging members of the public to contact the gardaí if they have any information in relation to the incident. "While the loss of buildings was significant, we were fortunate that only books belonging to one class were lost. We are particularly lucky that we have spare capacity in terms of classrooms, which enable all classes to return to school as weather conditions permit. Unfortunately some irreplaceable archive materials including photographs and personal belongings also perished," continued Mr. Leyden. In an effort to replace the books, which were burned, the school is looking for the following textbooks: Geography, "New complete Geography" by C Hayes; Religious Education, "Exploring Faith" by Sean Goan and Tom Ryan; History, "Focus on the Past" by Gill & Macmillan; Home Economics, "Design for Living"; Irish, "Draíocht 3" by Gill & Macmillan; French "Bienvenue en France" by Folens Part 2; English, "Goodnight Mr. Tom" and "The Merchant of Venice"; Maths, "Concise Maths 2" and "Concise Maths 1"; Metalwork, "Materials Technology Metalwork" for Junior Cert; Woodwork, "Materials Technology Wood" by Michael Cross; Business Studies, "Junior Cert Business Studies" by Matt Hynes; and Science, "Science Today" by R Henley & M Quirke. The books may be left in the office in St. Felim's or given to any member of staff. The principal Mr. Leyden and the board of management and staff wish to acknowledge all the kind expressions of sympathy, support and offers of help, which have received since the fire and look forward to reopening the school as weather conditions permit. Ballinamore had been promised a new school in 2012 and there are now calls to fast-track this as a matter of urgency. The school accommodates about 300 students from South Leitrim and West Cavan and has 27 teachers.