THE protest in West Street on Wednesday highlighting the importance of SNAs in all schools exposed the State’s duplicitous attitude towards the welfare of children. If the Government had got their way and there had not been a huge outcry there’s a good chance that many schools in the Drogheda area and around the country would have lost their special needs assistants.
Those who brought about this U-turn should be proud as this was a striking example of people power forcing an administration to change a policy measure which was clearly wrong and damaging to children.
Last week, the Government paused a review and reallocation of SNAs for the coming school year following outrage among parents, teachers, and SNAs. While this battle is won, the war is not, and the parents who took to the streets of Drogheda this week know there is to be another review of SNA allocations at schools for the 27/28 academic year.
I have seen first hand the absolute necessity of having adequate numbers of SNAs in schools to help students, as well as the dreadful consequences for children when they are removed. Why a government would want to introduce a measure that so many educators and parents overwhelmingly believe would prove disastrous for special needs children is unfathomable.
Then again, in a country that has let children down so badly over the years, we should not be surprised that vulnerable youngsters are again being failed. Just this week a survivor of institutional abuse, who was taken away from her mother when she was one year old, welcomed the apology the Taoiseach made in the Dail, on Wednesday.
One of 4,000 survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland, this woman from Co Kerry said she and others had been “criminalised as children” and “we had done nothing wrong”. While it is easy to claim that such abuse is all in the past, unfortunately, as recent scandals have shown, the mistreatment and neglect of children continues today.
Children’s Health Ireland, the body responsible for pediatric services in Dublin, has been embroiled in multiple serious scandals concerning patient safety, clinical governance and is now to be abolished.
Last year CHI apologised to the children and families involved. Also last week, the CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, “unequivocally” apologised after reviews into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in north and south Kerry identified risks of potential harm in how young people were treated.
The apology came after the Maskey Report found that over 240 children treated by a non-consultant doctor were exposed to the risk of significant harm due to the doctor’s diagnosis and treatment.
In recent weeks the Government sought to bring in legislation that would protect children from harmful online content only to realise that it was a much more complex problem than it appeared.
It is less complex, if more expensive, for the State to protect children in the real world and make sure they all have a proper education instead of having to make apologies for not doing so in years to come.
United Look to Move On After Difficult Fortnight
IT hasn’t been a great couple of weeks for Drogheda with the flare incidents at Oriel Park coming just days after the controversy over the club’s co-chairperson’s stance on Ireland fixtures against Israel.
The flare incidents were mindless, or at least I hope they were as there are some reports that they were planned, but regardless, this dangerous behaviour by a very small minority has the potential to do serious damage to the club.
Hopefully, lessons will be learned, and United will get back to their winning ways and hopefully achieve European football this year.
Rent Reforms Spark Fresh Housing Debate
SPEAKING of football, that old chant “you don’t know what you’re doing” would often ring out at matches when a referee made a wrong decision. The same could be said of the government’s catastrophic handling of the housing and rent crisis, which is going from bad to worse.
The Taoiseach has sought to defend the latest rent reforms after the country’s largest landlord predicted they would lead to increases of over 25% in its rental income.
Ires Reit, which owns 3,627 properties with an average rent of €1,852 claimed that “positive” changes announced by the Government could see a “+25% potential rental income uplift with minimal added costs”. While it might be positive for the landlords it certainly ain’t for the tenants who will be paying that extra 25%, or as Sinn Fein claimed, a hike of €5,556 annually.
Then again, maybe the Government does know what it’s doing and is looking after the country’s big landlords.
Live Music Still Strikes a Chord in Drogheda
YOU can’t beat live music but sadly there’s less of it around than there used to be in my day back in the 1970s and 80s. I was lucky enough to catch the Beggar Boys in the front bar in Sarsfields last Sunday, and Ken and the boys were on form as always. The lads play there, the last Sunday of the month, and it’s free and the pints are among the best and least expensive in town.
Locust Invasion Hits Canary Islands as Extreme Weather Fears Grow
WHAT next, a swarm of locusts? Well actually yes, if you happen to be in the Canary Islands at the moment. Both Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have been inundated with these unwelcome winged guests, and an alert has been issued by the authorities there. The insects, which can destroy entire crops in a few hours, flew over from West Africa, which is around 100 kilometres away. In the world we’re living in at the moment it’s all getting a bit Biblical, and having endured over 40 days and nights of rain it might be time we started building an ark down by the Boyne.
