Press Release re Tyrrelstown School

Speaking at the debate on the Tyrrellstown School situation, Labour’s Cllr Michael O’Donovan said

“We need greater imagination in order to fast track the building of the two Tyrrellstown Primary Schools.

Let’s look at the Planning process to begin with. There is a notion that the Department of Education must be the owner of the site before a planning application can be lodged. To my knowledge, this is not a hard and fast rule. The Department can lodge an application literally next Monday morning as soon as contracts are exchanged. It may take time before the transfer is completed and the Department takes full ownership of the site, but the planning process can start right away.

There is a second opportunity to speed up the delivery of schools. The main developer in the area has full permission for two sixteen classroom schools and a shared community sports hall. The design is to Department of Education specifications. Building could start straight away on this model, and a planning application could be lodged straight away for two eight-classroom extensions.

A lot is possible, but we need a level of urgency that has not been apparent up to now”.

"Tyrrelstown - we want contracts, not promises!"

Reacting to claims by Government sources that the problem of school sites in Tyrrelstown has been resolved, Local Councillor, Michael O’ Donovan said:

“We’ve had promises of this kind before and the timing of this announcement, four weeks before the Local Elections, gives cause for concern, even cynicism.

It was in the run-up to the General Election in 2007 that the then Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, told the Dáil that a site had been secured. That transfer of ownership was never concluded. In fact, the Minister never even applied for planning permission! I notice that the management of one of the National Schools involved has gone on record as being concerned that this might be “a pre-election ploy”.

Real contracts, real planning applications and real funding…..that’s what the Tyrrelstown Community needs and deserves.