Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to outline to the House the position on St. Joseph's secondary school, Newtownforbes, County Longford. The school is one of four post-primary schools in the area and was established in the early 1950s. Formerly an all girls boarding school, co-education was introduced during the 1970s. In 1989 the boarding element was closed.

Enrolments at the school peaked in the early 1990s at over 450 pupils. However, ten years later there had been a steady decline in numbers to a level of 173 pupils in September 2000. Based on this pattern of decline, future intakes of less than 30 pupils per annum could have been anticipated. In December 2000 the school trustees, the Mercy Sisters, western province, announced their intention to effect a phased closure of the school over two years with final closure at the end of the 2002-03 school year. Accordingly, there has been no intake of first year pupils since September 2000 but all current pupils, including the 2003 examination pupils, were facilitated in completing their junior or senior cycles, as appropriate.