Louth students miss out on place at preferred secondary school

The issue of sixth class students missing out on places at their preferred secondary school was highlighted in Leinster House last week by Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú.

The Sinn Féin deputy said that a number of families had been in touch with him in the past fortnight after initial offers were made by Dundalk secondary schools.

He read quotes from several families that included: “My daughter got rejected. We are absolutely devastated”; “my son has not been selected for any school for next year”; “my son is now the only boy from his soccer team, Gaelic team and hurling team that does not have a school place for next year. A lot of his friends have had multiple offers”; “the process should be changed to a system where kids can put their choices in order of preference and each child be allocated one school place”.

Deputy Ó Murchú said: “That has been done in certain places - I am not saying perfectly - and it needs to be looked at”.

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In response, Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “Minister for Education Helen McEntee, is doing what the Deputy suggested by putting in place that kind of common application system - I think that is the phrase.

“It is rolled out in a number of areas to test it. This year, it is hoped that it may be rolled out more broadly in the time ahead. We are also trying to bring forward dates for enrolment and the like.

“I will ask the Minister to specifically look at the issues in relation to Louth and come back to him directly”.

Deputy Ó Murchú also asked for a timeline for this rollout to be disclosed and the Tánaiste said he would ask Minister McEntee to do this too.