Laois Sinn Féin candidate calls for end to school place 'lottery'

Laois Sinn Féin candidate for the upcoming general election, Maria McCormack, has pledged support for Laois parents in the face of school place shortages.

“Since my announcement as a candidate, I have been inundated with appeals for help from parents who cannot get a place for their children in their local school," Ms McCormack said.

“One secondary school in Portlaoise has had 351 applications for 1st years, with only 192 places available," she highlighted.

“Parents are being told to appeal to the board of management, but there are just not enough classes and not enough teachers.

"A Sinn Fein led government will funnel the desperately needed funding into our schools in Laois, increasing capacity, trebling the workforce and acquiring the basic necessary resources that our schools have grown accustomed to begging for," Ms McCormack said.

Pictured: Sinn Féin candidate Maria McCormack at the Sinn Féin General Election Convention in Portlaoise.

“The funding has always been there, but the political will to use that funding in the right places has been missing in action. I aim to change this, and I have the political will to do it," the candidate finished.

Maria McCormack announced her standing in the upcoming General Election following the resignation of former Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley. Deputy Stanley recently announced his running in the election as an Independent Republican for Laois.

At the Sinn Féin General Election Convention in Portlaoise on Monday November 4, Ms McCormack said that she knew she faced a challenge to win the seat.

"I do not underestimate the challenge I am facing giving the recent difficulties in Laois but I am in this election to win. Sinn Féin won this seat on three different occasions since 2011," Ms McCormack said.

"The Sinn Féin seat in Laois belongs to Sinn Féin, it does not belong to anyone in particular, nor does it belong to any family in particular. In this constituency, people voted for Sinn Féin in 2011, 2016 and 2020 because they believed in the better future we can have with a Sinn Féin Government. I believe that they will vote in 2024 and elect the first woman TD for Sinn Féin in Laois," she said.

Ms McCormack told the convention that it was from her Republicanism stems from the Lewis family of The Heath mentioning that her great grandfather was the first Sinn Féin county councillor in Laois.