Historic opening of new School [Communityvoice.ie]
- Published: 08 June 2009
Since the foundation of the state all primary schools in Ireland were owned and managed by churches. While in recent years, the Educate Together movement introduced a new scheme of school patronage, it is only with the opening of Scoil Choilm that the state has finally accepted its full role as a provider of education to the children of the nation.
Scoil Choilm, which will operate under the aegis of the County Dublin VEC, is a school "for children of all religion and none."
The school was established to meet the critical need for a third primary school to serve the growing community of Porterstown / Carpenterstown and the community school model was developed as a direct result of the education crisis of a couple of years ago in Dublin 15. Together with its sister school, Scoil Ghráinne in Phibblestown, Scoil Choilm is a direct response to the need for a new model of school provision for a rapidly changing Ireland.
The official opening of the new school before a large group of assembled dignitaries and parents was a memorable occasion. It was very much the children's day too as they entertained the large attendance with a selection of presentations and musical entertainment to complement the various obligatory speeches of such an occasion.
Thanking everyone "for celebrating this great day with us," principal Treasa Lowe said "I knew from day one that this project was destined to be a big success when Ian Murphy was appointed as our manager. A former schools inspector, he brought a wealth of knowledge and understanding to our school and has worked tirelessly on behalf of the pupils, parents and staff to get us the best facilities possible.
"The ethos of the school has been etched out from day one when we started in the Institute of Horology in Blanchardstown on a temporary basis. Many of our families are international newcomers to our country who have brought a wealth of culture and diversity to our school. This is something we are very proud of," she said.
She also explained the concept of "all religions and none" which is underpinned by a "multi faith programme being developed under the direction of Dr. Clare Moloney and an ethics group."
Ms. Lowe's speech was followed by the junior infants who sang a number of songs which were most appropriate to the occasion including "Let's get together", "You've got a friend in me" and the ever popular "What a wonderful world."
Lyrics such as: "I hear babies crying, I watch them grow, they'll learn much more than I'll never know and I think to myself what a wonderful world" underlined the universality of the music and togetherness of the new school community.
Minister Brian Lenihan TD who performed the official opening confessed to being "very moved by the children's singing."
Looking back on the school's short history, the Minister said "in 2007 I was given a mandate by the Minister for Education to resolve the schools problem here in Dublin 15. I met with the various agencies involved and must thank them for their assistance in arriving at this new model."
The Minister particularly thanked Ian Murphy, who he said was "deserving of great credit for his guidance, wisdom and advice throughout." He also praised the principal Treasa Lowe "who has shown such commitment and dedication in getting the school up and running and ensuring it would be such a success story."
A short multi-faith ceremony followed with representatives of various religions and none giving blessings. One noteworthy contributor was Brian Whiteside from the Irish Humanist Association who explained that he represented "the none".
He read an old Irish blessing and there were some smiles as he invoked the "blessings of the sun" which coincidentally marked a loud splattering noise on the roof of the marquee as it started to rain!
