25.07.2012
Minister’s Decision to Grant Patronage of New Greystones School Welcomed
The announcement that the patronage of the new secondary school in Greystones, County Wicklow, has been awarded to the Church of Ireland has been warmly welcomed by the Archbishop of Dublin, the Rector of Greystones and the local parent group which supported the church’s patronage bid.
The announcement was made this morning (July 25) by the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, at a press conference in the Department of Education.
Archbishop Michael Jackson described the decision as very positive and said it demonstrated that faith based education still had a place in Irish schools. He added that the overwhelming response of parents in the Greystones and Delgany area, with almost 2,000 parents expressing their preference that the new school be under Church of Ireland patronage, also demonstrated a strong desire for a faith based option when given a choice.
Archbishop Jackson commented:
“The construction of the new school now presents an exciting opportunity for the community of Greystones, Delgany and the wider North Wicklow area. The prospect of a new secondary school in Greystones is something which I greatly welcome as there is a clear need for urgent provision of such facilities for the children of the area. I am well aware of the significant work that members of the community have put into this bid and congratulate them on it. I look forward to working with them and with the Department of Education and Skills as the future of the school is planned and carried through.”
As Patron, the Archbishop will appoint a Board of Management which will lead the development of the new school.
The group established to support the bid for Church of Ireland patronage of the new second level school in Greystones has also welcomed the decision of the Minister for Education. The group, which collected nearly 2,000 expressions of support for the Church of Ireland patronage bid in just six months, said that the decision recognised the strong parental preference for a faith based school in Greystones serving local children in the seven feeder schools.
Rev David Mungavin, the Rector of Greystones, said that the new school would represent a real addition to the town and would help to stem the tide of pupils leaving the town for their second level education. He also said that the school, while under Church of Ireland patronage, would first and foremost be a school for local children attending the seven local national schools in Greystones and Delgany.
Mr Mungavin commented:
“This is a school for the community of Greystones and Delgany and represents a real endorsement of the vision for second level education that the Church of Ireland presented to parents in the bid process. The school will present new and exciting opportunities to meet the needs of the local community. There would also be exciting opportunities for the new school to work collaboratively with St David’s, the well respected existing second level school in Greystones in the interest of children and parents locally. I am confident that this new school will be a positive force for the locality.”
Mr Mungavin said that he had been in contact with the Archbishop of Dublin and would be working closely with the Archbishop, the Diocesan Education Board and a strong team based in the local community to develop the school and have it open by September 2014. He commented that the success of the Church of Ireland bid for the patronage of the school was in no small measure due to the efforts of a cross community group of parents and he was confident that their energy, vision and commitment could be harnessed to help develop the new school.
Garrett Fennell of the local parents group welcomed the patronage announcement and said that the decision expressed the strong desire of parents locally for a faith based second level school.
He commented:
“In the course of organising our support for the Church of Ireland bid for patronage of the school, we were consistently encouraged by the recognition that the Church of Ireland model of second level education, as evidenced by East Glendalough in Wicklow Town, is a model of school that many parents in Greystones and Delgany wanted to see emulated in our town. This is a welcome endorsement of the strong parental support for the bid.”
Mr Fennell also thanked the many parents who expressed their support for the bid and the Committee who worked tirelessly over a short period to generate support from parents.