Member's statement: Irish-medium Education in Armagh
Member's statement by Mr Cathal Boylan on .
- MLA
- Mr Cathal Boylan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 19 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Irish-medium Education in Armagh
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4665730
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I am immensely proud of Armagh Christian Brothers' School (CBS) and Coláiste Chaitríona, Ard Mhacha
and the positive impact that the Irish-medium sector has had on our community. Armagh CBS currently educates 207 pupils in its Irish-medium stream. In March 2024, the school was granted normalisation to increase enrolment to 245 pupils, starting from September 2024. While that recognition of demand is welcome, we know that it will fall short of what is needed in September 2025. To highlight that point, 23 pupils will leave rang a seacht
this year. Meanwhile, 69 nursery pupils attend Irish-medium nurseries across Armagh city, all of which are feeder schools for Armagh CBS. Importantly, Armagh CBS is the only primary immersion education provider within an 11-mile radius. Given those factors, enrolment will continue to grow significantly, underscoring the critical need for appropriate facilities. The Irish-medium stream at Armagh CBS has only six classrooms. One of those is a mobile unit that has reached the end of its life. In April 2024, the school submitted a minor works proposal, seeking two replacement mobile units under the school enhancement programme (SEP). The Department has proposed delivering a double mobile unit to replace the condemned mobile unit and providing an additional seventh classroom. Whilst that is a positive step, it falls short of addressing the real and immediate needs of the Irish-medium stream. Armagh CBS requires nine classrooms to accommodate its growing student population effectively. To meet that demand, it is imperative that Armagh CBS can provide suitable facilities for Irish-medium provision by September 2025. I will be writing to the Minister to urge him to act decisively to provide the nine classrooms that are needed to meet current and projected demand. The community of Armagh has embraced Irish-medium education, and it is only right that the facilities are put in place to nurture that growth.
309 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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