‘People power still exists’
The decision by the Board of Cavan-Monaghan ETB, which passed a motion last week to rescind the decision to amalgamate St Bricin’s and St Mogue’s secondary schools, has been welcomed by the Save Our Schools Committees in Belturbet and Bawnboy.
They said that the original decision taken in November 2018 without any “community consultation” and was met with strong opposition by both communities,” said the groups in a joint statement issued.
Working alongside the Parents Associations in Belturbet and Bawnboy and speaking of the “ethos of ‘Meitheal’” in opposing the merger, the SOS committee stated: “Many hands came together to raise awareness, get flyers out, make phone calls, discuss on social media, obtain signatures on petitions, and put pen to paper to write letters and emails.”
They added that people contributed in “different ways and many hours went into crafting and planning what was to be a long and difficult campaign”.
The statement continued: “One thing remained throughout, a commitment to stay together on the issue and have one strong voice at every table, every meeting, every engagement with CMETB and Department of Education. This has been the foundation for a successful outcome. People power still exists and this outcome is testament to all those who got behind the campaign.”
Finally the group issued a heartfelt thanks for the support and representation of many political representatives across Cavan. “Each in different ways and at different times have taken the issue into spaces,” said SOS, name-checking Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly as “the first political representative to question the decision”.
“Sarah did not forget our campaign, remained supportive, and has been instrumental in the final hurdle.”
Others too were given due credit for their active support: Belturbet Independent Cllr Brendan Fay, the late Sean Smith (FF), and more recently his daughter Áine Smith; Deputy Brendan Smith TD “who brought questions to the floor of the Dáil, facilitated the delivery of our petition, and arranged our meeting with Minister Foley”, and Cllr John Paul Feely (FF) for his “continuous support, successfully bringing a motion through Cavan Council and onto the CMETB, which precipitated the successful vote on Wednesday. We are extremely thankful to them all.”
Concluding, the statement from the SOS committees acknowledged the current board of CMETB for “bringing closure to this matter” by its decision last week, and said they now “look forward to seeing both great schools thrive in their respective communities and continue to positively contribute to the life in west Cavan”.
In his own statement, Deputy Smith welcomed the ETB decision, saying: “I opposed this proposal from the word go and I am very glad to have worked closely with my colleague, Minister Norma Foley, since she became Minister for Education in June 2020, and in the meantime there has been very substantial investment in new accommodation in both schools. I wish to acknowledge the support of the Minister for Education for both schools.”
His party colleague, Cllr Feeley meanwhile expressed his view that the decision to merge the two schools in the first instance was “a disgrace”.
He said it was “ill judged”.
Cllr Feeley said: “It ignored the wishes of the local communities and undermined two fine local secondary schools. The decision today to formally reverse the position of Cavan/Monaghan ETB follows on from a comprehensive campaign from the Save Our Schools (SOS Group) and local politicians.”
He noted that a local school sits “at the heart” of the community it serves. “St Bricin’s and St Mogue’s are both shining examples of what a local secondary school should be and any attempt to undermine them was wrong at every level.”