IPPN

Published: 18 December 2008

Source: Irish Independent

By Ralph Riegel
Thursday December 18 2008

EDUCATION Minister Batt O'Keeffe has expressed outrage after Gaelscoil parents and students staged a Santa protest outside his family home yesterday, leaving his wife very upset.

The demonstration -- by parents and supporters of Gaelscoil Bharra in Cabra, Dublin -- involved a sackful of Santa letters -- demanding a new school building -- being delivered to Mr O'Keeffe's Cork home in Ballincollig.

Mr O'Keeffe was on Government business in Dublin and only his wife, Mary, was at home.

She became upset when there was no sign of the demonstrators leaving.

"My wife felt as if she was effectively barricaded into her own home," Mr O'Keeffe told the Irish Independent. "I am more than 30 years in politics and I have never before experienced anything like this.

"I have no problem with people demonstrating or protesting against Government policies, it's part and parcel of democracy. But I have to say that staging events like this outside a family home does raise serious issues," he added.

Mr O'Keeffe also queried how appropriate it was for students to be given a day off school to make a 300-mile round trip to protest outside his Cork home.

"If they wanted to protest, I was in Dublin all day and I could have saved them the trouble of the trip," he said.

"I am checking the records now but, as far as I know, no-one from this school sought to send a direct deputation to me," he said.

Gaelscoil Bharra -- which caters for 220 students -- was founded 13 years ago but is still based in a series of ageing prefabs.

There was no suggestion the protesters behaved in an unruly or intimidating manner beyond mounting what was described as a noisy demonstration.

- Ralph Riegel