Bray fight for special school

national | health / disability issues | news report Sunday May 05, 2002 09:40 by Simon Basketter - SWP

Daily streets protests taking place in Bray for the Marino Special School.

Marino Special School in Bray caters for 42 children with cerebral palsy and some other conditions.
In 1992 it was recognised by the Department of Education as substandard and parents have been lobbying since then to get a new school built.
Harry Sterling whose child attends the school describes the conditions as "Dickensian, or maybe a little after that period”.
“The original school was built in the 1970s at a time when disability was not recognised and remained hidden behind closed doors. It was never designed or suitable for children with special needs. It robs the young people of their dignity and makes it impossible for them to function as independent human beings".
Three years ago the breakthrough that parents had been waiting for arrived. The school was given priority status, funding was made available and planning permission was granted.
Building work was due to begin the following year but parents are still waiting today for the first brick to be laid. No clear reason has been given for the delay. When told that there were difficulties with some electrical and mechanical aspects of the submission, the problems were addressed in a new submission but still no communication has been received.
All that is needed is for Minister Michael Woods to sign off the process so that the project can go out to tender. Harry and the other parents now fear that planning permission may expire and they will be back at square one.
Parents supported by the local community, local schools, REHAB and other organisations have taken to the streets since the start of May. According to Harry "We've waited long enough and now we have no option. My voice is gone from protesting in the streets. We marched last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but we'll be back on the streets again after the bank holiday weekend".
The failure to build the school is incomprehensible and reflects the low priority given to children with special needs. Given the lengths that parents like Katherine Sinnott have had to go to in order to establish the right to education for their children it is completely unacceptable that the government would continue to fail to respond to their needs.