Mr. E?in MacMaoilir:

Aontaím le gach rud atá ráite anseo. Labhróidh mé as Béarla ar mhaithe le cruinneas.

One of the things that we are finding with parents who are very happy with the education their children have received in our Gaelscoil is that if they knew how difficult it would be for their kids to transition to any school, where they do not have the option for a Gaelscoil, they would not have sent them there. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has recognised that the transition point between primary and post-primary education is critically important for kids. When one is going to the meánscoil, one should be excited about it. There should be certainty. They should be able to plan from a distance out. However, I know in my case, with regard to my eldest child who needs educational support and gets great educational support in our school, that this uncertainty increases that anxiety. I cannot tell her where she will go. I am trying to keep the door open, hoping that a Gaelcholáiste will appear in Cherrywood. If it does not, she will also have to move away from her peer group. This is the experience of the vast majority of parents in our schools. It is not just that one should have a place in the Gaelcholáiste available; it is that it should be at the heart of the community. It should be an essential part of constructing these integrated communities where everyone is welcome.

Lots of the parents in the school are like me, such as my wife, who returned to Ireland from abroad. She had an exemption from Irish. I know some parents have children in the school who had Irish exemptions themselves. They want a different relationship with the language. They want their children to have a different relationship with the language from what they had. Sometimes, it feels like looking for education through Irish is some kind of niche desire or that one is being awkward. The frustration is that we have a site sitting there. I could only imagine the difficulties in other areas. All these areas deserve their own local schools where they can merge these little fledgling Irish-speaking communities in all these schools and build larger ones that radiate out into the wider communities.