As children head back to school after their summer break, Sinn Féin activists across the country will hold a day of protest in opposition to the huge cutbacks this Saturday. In Cork, local Ballincollig SF Rep, Des O’Grady and party Cllrs including Thomas Gould will hand in a letter of protest to the office of Minister Batt O’Keeffee.

Speaking ahead of the protest, local SF activist and teacher, Des O’Grady said:

“As pupils head back to school after their summer break the cuts that have been so talked over the last number of months will now come into force in a very real way. Pupils will find themselves in larger classes, with limited resources in the same class rooms and prefabs that have been there for years.

Parents will find themselves now having to fundraise more for the upkeep of their children’s’ school as the money is simply not there. The reality is that many parents simply cannot afford to do this. Parents are losing back to school allowances and cuts in child benefit are looming. Many constituents I have spoken to have paid upwards of €800 on uniforms, books etc. this is nothing short of a scandal.

Our children must not be made scapegoats for the reckless behaviour of this government and their cronies the bankers and developers. It’s time for us to fight back.

Parents – education cuts impair learning. Lets send a message loud and clear to the government: LEAVE OUR SCHOOLS ALONE!”

The content of the letter is as follows

A chara,

We wish to protest in the strongest possible way against the cutbacks which will now come into affect in schools across the state.

Mainstream, language support and special needs teachers will be lost, class sizes will increase, resources will be scarce and children will continue to be taught in overcrowded, dilapidated school buildings. In secondary schools subject choice will be restricted and measures aimed at pupil retention such as Leaving Certificate Applied will be lost completely.

Schools simply cannot take anyway more cuts, yet despite this the findings in the McCarthy report seek to make even further cuts and sack even more teachers. This, minister is nothing short of a scandal.

As parents and we have already paid huge sums of money just to send our children to school. The cost of books, uniforms, subscriptions and other equipment is through the roof and it is likely that more voluntary contributions will have to be made by parents just to keep the school afloat.

Minister we are urging you to wake up and reverse your cuts on our schools.

We as parents do not support your cuts and will not accept any further cuts as proposed in the McCarthy report.

We look forward to your response.

Is Mise,

Des O’Grady
Cork Sinn Féin

For further information contact the Sinn Féin Office on 0214311389l.