I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue on behalf of the pupils and their parents, in Bruff and surrounding communities. Ard Scoil Mhuire, FCJ, in Bruff has proposed that the school will be closed in two to three years unless an alternative solution can be found. I am asking the Minister to intervene with an alternative solution to allow the school to continue to survive. The school has in excess of 250 pupils and most pupils from the primary school in Bruff transfer to the Ard Scoil Mhuire secondary school. The school is very concerned about the situation that has arisen. This decision was taken without consultation with members of the community representative body.
The FCJ school is a magnificent institution with a history of great all-round education. For a long number of years pupils excelled academically, socially and on the sports field. The local community, which has contributed so much to the school in partnership with successive generations of FCJ sisters over the past 150 years, feels it has been shut out of the decision making on this matter. The school is a central element of the community and its closure will have a detrimental impact not only on the education of our children, but on the social and business balance of the community as a whole. Pupils receive a personalised education and teachers go out of their way to help them on both a personal and educational level. Many of these children have been together since play-school and have developed strong ties not only with each other but with the community. There is an enormous community aspect to the school.
The adverse effect the proposed closure of Ard Scoil Mhuire will have on the pupils, who relate so well to the school, is of extreme concern. Local housing has been purchased by families with young children who need to be adjacent to a school. The school has attracted people to live in Bruff. There is also a good relationship between the school and older residents, many of whom take part in a project which involves pupils training senior members of the community to use computers. Closing the school would create an imbalance in the area leaving fewer young people and many elderly residents in the area. I cannot believe there is a compelling or any argument for closing the school, particularly in light of the fact that Bruff has a growing community and the school population is expected to grow rather than shrink in the coming years. Financial proposals put forward showed how funding could be secured, not only from people in the parish of Bruff but from several of the neighbouring parishes.
I would like to provide a brief history of the school. The sisters of the Faithful Companions of Jesus, FCJs, arrived in Bruff from France in 1856 at the invitation of the then parish priest, Dean Cussen, and provided for primary and secondary schooling for girls. The building commenced in that year. In 1987, an addition or extension to the school building provided seven classrooms, a home economics room, a kitchen and staff room. I put it to the Minister that the Department should support the continuation of the school. Due to the fact the FCJ sisters propose to pull out, the Department needs to intervene to ensure the school's contribution to the educational needs of Bruff and the surrounding communities continues into the future.
