Monday, April 16, 2018

Brannoxtown NS Public meeting update

Open Day in 2015 at Brannoxtown NS.
Report provided by SOSB about Public Meeting Wednesday 18 April 2018 at 8.30pm Brannoxtown National School

Save our School Brannoxtown (SOSB), a local body elected by the residents of Brannockstown, was given the good news recently by the Patron, the Archbishop of Dublin, that Brannoxtown National School is to be divested by the Patron and will only be closed for a short period of time and not the foreseeable future which was a major concern. The Patron will invite interested parties to tender for the running of the school.

“We have been working for several months to prevent the school from closing. Unfortunately, the closure was unavoidable. The divesting of the school is the best outcome we could hope for,” said Conor O’Toole of SOSB. SOSB wish to thank Martin Heydon T.D. for his support and hard work which has greatly helped to save the school.

A public meeting will be held on Wednesday the 18th April next in Brannoxtown National School at 8.30pm to discuss the school’s future with the local community.

The spokesperson for the group Tracey O’Dwyer recently spoke on KFM about SOSB’s efforts to keep the school open and the frustration that was felt by parents.

Brannoxtown National School closed in December 2017 after being open for over 133 years. It went from having 87 pupils in 2011 to 45 pupils in 2016 then to 2 in September 2017. It was a devastating blow for the community and for the pupils who were extremely happy in their idyllic country school setting. The teaching and educational facilities were second to none.

The Archbishop has previously expressed his willingness to divest Catholic schools and SOSB is happy that he has agreed to divest Brannoxtown so that it can flourish under new management.

The last public meeting was hugely supported and SOSB are inviting everyone to attend next Wednesday night.