Eight schools in South Dublin County to face structural assessment inspections
By Brendan Grehan
EIGHT schools in South Dublin built by Western Building Systems are among the 42 nationwide that face structural assessment inspections in the coming days.
Two schools in West Dublin and 18 classrooms in a school in North Dublin have been closed following structural checks.
Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada in Lucan
The inspections are due to take place on the schools between now and the resumption of school after the mid-term break.
The schools affected in South Dublin are, Griffeen Valley Educate Together National School, Lucan (2003), Lucan East ETNS (2011), Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada, Lucan (2012), Lucan Community National School (2016), Scoil Aoife Community National School, Citywest (2016), Scoil Chaitlin Maude, Tallaght, (2016), Firhouse ETNS (2017) and Gaelscoil Teach Giúise, Firhouse (2018).
As The Echo went to press, a structural examination was being carried out at Gaelscoil Teach Giúise in Firhouse.
The school was completed in 2018 and the inspection was being carried out to see if the structural flaws may effect schools built in the last few years.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that it will be difficult to find alternative classroom accommodation for students affected by the closure of schools with structural defects.
He said there was an information deficit because the Government did not have all of the information it needed.
Mr Varadkar said the target was to have interim accommodation available for students after the mid-term break next week.
John Lahart, TD has expressed surprise that three schools in his constituency were on the list facing inspection for possible structural defects. The three schools are Scoil Aoife, and two brand new schools Gaelscoil Teach Giúise and Firhouse ETNS.
He told The Echo: “Scoil Aoife is not long completed and the other two have both been completed in the last year. I’m amazed and appalled at the prospect that there could potentially be structural issue with these brand new buildings – hopefully there are not because the kind of hassle this will cause to pupils, staff and parents is not worth considering.
“The Minister needs to move quickly to clarify the situation with regard to all these school sand reassure parents that they are safe for pupils.”
