Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I remain of the view that the optimum configuration for the two post-primary schools for Maynooth, County Kildare, and, indeed, the best provision that can be made for the students in the area, is two fully vertical schools, namely a junior cycle and senior cycle.

I am aware of the desire locally to avoid issues of duplication or intra-community rivalry in the establishment of a second school which has resulted in a new proposal from the local parents' group to amalgamate the two schools, either temporarily or permanently. I believe, however, there are several practical operational policy measures that can be implemented with the agreement of parents and school leadership to foster a stronger sense of common identity and to benefit from the advantages of shared resources, while maintaining two separate school identities.

The Department will be engaging with the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, ETB, to consider this. In turn, the ETB will be engaging further with the school leadership and parents in this regard.

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