Council to request two extra primary schools for Portlaoise

Two extra primary schools are to be requested in Portlaoise by Laois County Council. 

Fine Gael Cllr Paddy Buggy says bussing Portlaoise kids out of the town to rural Laois schools is "not fair".

Portlaoise has six mainstream primary schools totalling almost 3,000 children. They are the Holy Family Junior and Senior schools, Scoil Bhride NS, Educate Together NS, the Gaelscoil and Maryborough NS. Hundreds more children are driven to nearby rural schools such as those in The Heath, Ratheniska, Ballyfin and Ballyroan. 

Cllr Buggy asked Laois County Council to provide for two new schools in the Portlaoise Local Area Plan, tabling a motion at the March meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District. 

"We should be driving the notion of how many schools we need and where to build them. The Department of Education is usually ten years behind the reality on the ground. Nationally birth rates are declining with the exception of Portlaoise. We need to start planning now, instead of waiting on the department.

"What I would nearly call babies are being bussed out because there are no places. It's not fair. They are losing the connection with their community. They don't know their next door neighbours. 

"We as a council should decide that x number of houses equates to x number of children. We need to identify sites close to where they live. We need to drive it further on," Cllr Buggy said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley seconded the motion, but said "as a council we can't do it on our own".

"We need help from the Department of Education. I'm on the board of the LOETB which is the patron of nine secondary schools in Laois and Offaly. We see the serious pressure that second levels are under as well. In 2016 I canvassed for patronage of Dunamase College and it's only just got planning. The length of time it took is crazy."

She describes how the Department rejected the LOETB's offer to patron a new primary school in Portlaoise in 2023.

It said that they are keeping the situation under review but plan to manage the situation in the short-term through additional accommodation at existing schools.

"The LOETB showed statistics in population growth and the amount of housing being built, the ducks were lined up. They went to the Department but got the most disgraceful letter. Their view was Portlaoise didn't need a new primary, that (rural schools) could pick up the slack.

"In Aghnaharna with a school across the road, children are bussed out because they couldn't get into it. We as councillors know there is a need. The Department seems to be on a different planet. We have people coming to us every year trying to get their children into primary and secondary schools. We need more than one, but we do need the Department on board," Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

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Fianna Fáil Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald is also on the LOETB.

"The LOETB are willing and able to work with us. The reply had absolutely ruled it out. They said we hadn't got the numbers, it was crazy. Caroline is right. We can zone land but the department have to back it. People are getting early morning and evening childcare now, bringing their children to where they work, so Portlaoise will definitely need another primary school," she said

There is a new argument in favour of a new school, as Director of Services for Portlaoise Simon Walton noted.

"The Minister has published new guidelines for additional housing in Laois. There is 8,500 new houses by 2040, with a minimum of 5,000 of them in Portlaoise. At three people per house that is at least 15,000 more people in Portlaoise.

"In that context, it is probably appropriate that we correspond on behalf of members to the Department of Education," he said.

Cllr Barry Walsh said he does not understand why Census figures are not used to predict need.

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"It seems we're firefighting all the time with extensions and who shouts loudest. Letting over flow into rural schools causes capacity issues in some of them," he said.

Cllr Tommy Mulligan, a primary teacher, said "the department are being let off the hook. Schools are at capacity".

Portlaoise doubled in size in 20 years up to 2022 to nearly 24,000, and continues to grow as more people move to the town. It is expected to reach over 26,000 in the coming year.  It is the most populated town in the Midlands overtaking Athlone. It also has the highest percentage of people aged under 18 in Ireland.