Irish students earn bus victory

Irish students earn bus victory

25 September 2013

PARENTS of local students who attend an Irish medium school in Belfast have welcomed a decision by education authorities to provide them with dedicated transport.

The children studying at Coláiste Feirste are the first Gaelic speaking children in Northern Ireland to be provided with a publicly-funded taxi bus following a High Court ruling.

Two years after the Department of Education’s decision not to provide dedicated school transport for children in the Irish medium sector was successfully challenged, students Caithlán Nic Cristin, Fiona Ní Dhonaill, Nathan Kelly, Dainagh Ní Scollain and Alex Kelly are now taken directly to school.

Previously, they had to board a number of buses to get to Belfast but the new direct service considerably reduces the journey time to and from the Falls Road school.

Lisa Perry, whose daughter attends Coláiste Feirste, said the local students are now taken directly to the front door.

“Previously, the students had to change buses and walk for 10 minutes and this caused all sorts of problems during the winter months. When it rained they ended getting up soaked at the start of the school day,” she explained.

“The provision of dedicated transport has reduced the journey time to and from school and has really made a big difference. It has also provided me with peace of mind, knowing Caithlán doesn’t have to change buses and gets to school safely.”

Lisa also revealed that up to four more students from the Downpatrick area hope to study at Coláiste Feirste next year which will mean that education officials will have to provide a bigger vehicle.

She added: “It has taken quite a while to provide the Coláiste Feirste students from this area with dedicated school transport and I know the parents are delighted this provision is now in place.”

The campaign to provide publicly-funded school transport for children in the Irish Medium sector stretches back 15 years and ended up in the High Court in 2011.

Councillor Cadogan Enright, who was heavily involved in the campaign to secure school transport for the Irish students, explained that as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, Irish medium education was theoretically put on the same footing as integrated education.

But he said the Department of Education refused to provide a network of buses to Irish medium schools as it does for students in state, Catholic and integrated sectors which resulted in the High Court challenge.

Councillor Enright explained the legal case taken against the Department was successful in overturning laws dating back to 1691 prohibiting education through the medium of Gaelic.

Downpatrick’s Claire Nic Ionnreactaigh, who was the named pupil in the High Court challenge, is now 22 and working as an assistant teacher near Brussels.

She is delighted dedicated transport is in place for Coláiste Feirste students in the Downpatrick area and has thanked everyone who fought to make this possible.