Wexford principal is at wits' end as he fights for SNA support for child with complex needs
'Despite numerous email communications with the local NCSE team manager for Wexford/Waterford, there seems to be no allocation forthcoming,' he said. 'The team manager stated that 'NCSE will continue to prioritise schools with no SNA access, schools with medically compromised or vulnerable children and highly complex cases'. I have explained that we are in this category of being a highly complex case, as the pupil in question had access to an SNA. I have been chasing this extra SNA support since Easter, and we are now at the middle of July and NCSE are refusing to make an allocation,' he said. Mr Moran commended the 'excellent' Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO), Selina Lynge, who he said has a 'clear understanding of the needs' in the school, however, he's struggling to comprehend the disconnect between the SENOs and their higher powers. The principal also claims that the allocation system is 'failing pupils'. In Budget 2023, the NCSE was allocated €13 million to support its Vision 26 transformation program, which involves organisational changes and recruitment, which was an additional €13 million, however, it's the view of the principal that 'the system seems to be as chaotic as ever.' 'It is extremely frustrating as a school principal that we must go to such lengths to beg the NCSE for resources. 'If this pupil was in a single stream school with classes from junior to sixth class, there would be no issue with his SNA in third class and as resources are not transferred, both the school and the child are penalised,' he said, adding that he has also contacted the leading members of other support services 'to see if they can help'. Bunscoil Rís currently has five classes for pupils with autism, and the NCSE has provided the required staffing including teachers and SNAs for the classes, which Mr Moran said the school is 'thankful' for, however, he noted that the allocation of the fifth class 'only came about after an incredibly difficult fight for resources'. 'I know from speaking with other local principals that many are frustrated by how the NCSE operates and dealing with them is like pulling teeth, just painful,' he said.
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Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Wexford principal is at wits' end as he fights for SNA support for child with complex needs
A Wexford primary school principal says he's 'at his wits' end' while trying to resolve an anomaly that has resulted in a pupil with very complex needs being refused the continuation of their special needs assistant support as they transition from second class in their junior school to third class in the senior school next door. The student will make the move from the Catherine McAuley Junior School to Bunscoil Rís in September this year, which is the standard process in the schools once the students reach third class, and both schools are run by a joint Board of Management. However, the principal of Bunscoil Rís, Gerry Moran, is publicly calling on the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to re-allocate an SNA to the school that one of the pupil's had access to in second class, which he claims he has been fighting for since Easter, 2025. "As a primary school principal, I am at my wits' end trying to get some SNA support for a very complex child who will enrol in our school in September,' Mr Moran said. 'This is because of a simple anomaly, that the NCSE refuses to address, and his SNA will not transfer with him to the new school,' he said. Mr Moran explained that the case 'is so complex' that Middletown Centre of Autism in Monaghan will advise and support the school. 'They only support between five and seven pupils per year, yet the NCSE in Ireland will not allocate an SNA to our school that the pupil had in second class,' he said. 'The Middletown Centre for Autism understands the complexity of this pupil, yet the NCSE 'stands behind processes and procedures,' said Mr Moran. 'My understanding is that the Special Educational Needs Officer on the ground, who is excellent, and the team manager, who has promoted our case, both understand the issue, but line managers are stuck behind parameters. Our pupil does not fit into any parameters,' Mr Moran said. He said the NSCE is failing to recognise that the child will rely on their SNA, given their complex needs. In adding to the frustration of those involved in trying to provide adequate resources, a new application for SNA supports can only be made after the child has enrolled in the school. This is a process that could take months to be finalised and receive the new allocation of the supports. 'Despite numerous email communications with the local NCSE team manager for Wexford/Waterford, there seems to be no allocation forthcoming,' he said. 'The team manager stated that 'NCSE will continue to prioritise schools with no SNA access, schools with medically compromised or vulnerable children and highly complex cases'. I have explained that we are in this category of being a highly complex case, as the pupil in question had access to an SNA. I have been chasing this extra SNA support since Easter, and we are now at the middle of July and NCSE are refusing to make an allocation,' he said. Mr Moran commended the 'excellent' Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO), Selina Lynge, who he said has a 'clear understanding of the needs' in the school, however, he's struggling to comprehend the disconnect between the SENOs and their higher powers. The principal also claims that the allocation system is 'failing pupils'. In Budget 2023, the NCSE was allocated €13 million to support its Vision 26 transformation program, which involves organisational changes and recruitment, which was an additional €13 million, however, it's the view of the principal that 'the system seems to be as chaotic as ever.' 'It is extremely frustrating as a school principal that we must go to such lengths to beg the NCSE for resources. 'If this pupil was in a single stream school with classes from junior to sixth class, there would be no issue with his SNA in third class and as resources are not transferred, both the school and the child are penalised,' he said, adding that he has also contacted the leading members of other support services 'to see if they can help'. Bunscoil Rís currently has five classes for pupils with autism, and the NCSE has provided the required staffing including teachers and SNAs for the classes, which Mr Moran said the school is 'thankful' for, however, he noted that the allocation of the fifth class 'only came about after an incredibly difficult fight for resources'. 'I know from speaking with other local principals that many are frustrated by how the NCSE operates and dealing with them is like pulling teeth, just painful,' he said.
Irish Independent
16-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Wexford parents urge ministers to reconsider review of special school system – ‘This will have a far-reaching, devastating effect on students'
Currently there are 117 children on its roll, 117 children who avail of the specialised care and attention they receive from the school's teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs), and extended staff. However, the future of those children, and the children who hope to attend the school in the future, was thrown into jeopardy in May of this year when a letter, issued by the Department of Education, outlined its proposed changes for special education provision for the academic year 2026/27 and beyond. The letter (Circular 0039-2025), which followed engagement with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), details the department's plans to 'review the designation of existing special schools'. Set to be finalised by December 31 of this year, the plan states that 'where there is a need for special class places in a local area, and there is no available school to meet this need . . . the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) can approach other schools to open special classes'. With regards to the designation of special schools under the plan, the Department and the NSCE have said they 'intend to commence work on reviewing the designation of existing special schools to ensure that all special schools respond to the needs of children in their local region, rather than children having to travel past one or more special schools to access a special school placement due to the designation of those schools.' Under the new plans, pupils with MGLD may be required to attend special units in mainstream schools in their locality rather than travel to Our Lady of Fatima for their education. Already, the principal of Our Lady of Fatima, Ms Glenda McKeown, has voiced her deep concerns regarding the changes to the system and how it will impact children across Wexford, saying students in Our Lady of Fatima 'would definitely struggle for many different reasons – mental health or high anxiety levels – if they were compelled to go to a mainstream school, and there would be a greater level of absenteeism'. And now, with uncertainty and fear growing among those who attend Our Lady of Fatima, parents of some of the school's current students have had their say. Vanessa's story The changes detailed in Circular 0039-2025 are particularly pertinent for Vanessa Steenson and her daughter Helen Maria. Living in Gorey, they are a long way from Our Lady of Fatima in Wexford town and would, like many other families, be forced to go to the nearest available mainstream school if the changes are implemented. Helen Maria (12) has already spent some time in a mainstream school where it quickly became apparent that she required a more specialised environment. 'She spent junior infants in a school in Gorey, the teachers were very good, and understanding, but they weren't able to support her,' says Vanessa. 'She spent most of the time sitting in the back of the room with a piece of paper and some crayons. I knew she had a lot of potential but the teachers weren't able to unlock it.' Helen Maria has a rare genetic disorder which affects her cognitive learning abilities and she also has difficulties with sensory processing. In addition, Vanessa says that although 'her chronological age is 12, she's really only about seven or eight'. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Following junior infants, Helen Maria began attending Our Lady of Fatima. 'She was pre-verbal at this stage, she now talks, she's able to read, is at fourth class level and can read small novels,' says Vanessa. 'She has amazing potential and it's only by being in Our Lady of Fatima that they have found ways of tapping into it. "She couldn't learn in a mainstream setting where there's 30 kids, one teacher, lots of noise and distraction. Now she's in a small classroom setting, there's two special needs assistants (SNAs), plus the teacher, and her work is all tailored to her, as it is to the other students,' All the children who attend Our Lady of Fatima's have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which contains various targets and goals for each child. "The teacher uses various learning approaches and teaching styles to suit that child. If you go into a mainstream setting the teacher is just opening the book and telling the class what they're going to be doing,' says Vanessa who is a teacher herself. 'If Helen Maria was in a mainstream setting she would be starting first year now, probably in Gorey Community School. She is tiny, can you imagine her in among a group of teenage first years? Children like her get forgotten or are labelled as disruptive in a mainstream school.' Although the academic year has now concluded at Our Lady of Fatima, the school is still working with its students, Helen Maria included, to ensure they are ready for all that the world throws at them in their future lives. 'They're doing their summer provision at the moment, it's like a summer camp,' Vanessa explains. 'They organise activities for the children, improve their life skills. I got an email the other day to tell me they were going to the shops, to the cinema. Chloe had to bring her little purse with money to buy a bottle of water, some treats, before they went to the cinema.' Darryl's story Describing Our Lady of Fatima as 'nothing short of a lifeline' for his daughter, Darryl Cogley, as chair of the parents association, says the proposed changes fill him with a mix of 'apprehension and deep concern for the future of our special schools'. 'Before Grace came here, we had navigated a labyrinth of challenges, often feeling isolated and misunderstood. But within the walls of that school, she has found a place where her unique needs are not just accommodated, but celebrated,' he says. 'The dedicated staff, the tailored curriculum, the small class sizes – these are not luxuries, they are essential pillars that have allowed my daughter to blossom, to achieve her full potential in a way that simply wouldn't have been possible in a mainstream setting. "This school has unlocked her abilities, built her confidence, and given her a sense of belonging that every child deserves. It's amazing to see a child going into the school at 9-10-years-old and watching their development; you'd have a child who wouldn't have spoke very much, where their peers (in mainstream) were moving on at a faster pace so they were left out of conversations. Now they're in with their own peers, their own age group, they're welcomed every day and all the anxieties they've had are starting to reduce.' Although the proposed changes won't impact Grace or any students from Our Lady of Fatima's for the upcoming academic year, Darryl says the prospect of a reduction in special school places for children with (MGLD) sends 'shivers' down his spine. "The Department of Education and the NCSE speak of expanding special classes in mainstream schools and a 'gradual phased basis' for changes to existing special schools, but what does that truly mean for our children?' he asks. 'Will the nuanced, individualised support that makes Our Lady of Fatima so exceptional be replicated in a mainstream setting? My fear, and the fear of countless other parents, is that it simply cannot. 'If this leads to a significant reduction in places for children with MGLD at schools like Our Lady of Fatima, it will have a far-reaching, devastating effect on hundreds of potential future students. We cannot afford to lose these vital spaces, these havens of tailored education. We implore the Department of Education to recognise the irreplaceable value of schools like Our Lady of Fatima and ensure that the needs of all children with special educational needs, including those with MGLD, continue to be met with the highest standard of care and specialized provision. Our children's futures depend on it. 'This isn't just about administrative adjustments; it's about the very heart of how we support our most vulnerable children.' Darryl's fears extend beyond his own situation, beyond that of the school's current student body. 'There's a lot of parents out there who had thought their children would be going to Our Lady of Fatima in the next couple of years and they're worried about what's going to happen with their child now.' Nicola and Thomas's story Gerard reached fourth class in a mainstream setting before it became apparent that his situation was no longer sustainable. While he got on well with his peers, was liked by his classmates, the academic challenges were mounting, causing the young boy severe distress. "He used to be crying going into mainstream, it was so hard on him, he couldn't cope with it,' says his dad Thomas. 'At night time he couldn't sleep with the anxiety, the worry.' Now 15, Gerard, who has autism and MGLD, had done his level best to keep up, but the school setting just wasn't appropriate for his needs. 'He went as far as fourth class, at that point even those within the school felt he needed more,' says mam Nicola. 'They gave him plenty of support, looked after him really well, he was popular with the other kids and socially he mixed with everyone. But academically he began to feel the pressure, he would say to us, 'why am I struggling, why are things so hard? Everyone else can do it but I can't'.' The switch to Our Lady of Fatima happened six years ago and the changes in their son's demeanour have taken even his parents by surprise. 'It's been brilliant, he's done his Junior Cert, he's halfway through the Leaving Cert Applied,' says Nicola. 'He hated drama before, but he's acted in a play now; he's given everything a go, took part in things he would never have done before. Our Lady of Fatima has made a huge difference to his life, to his confidence; we can see how much he's matured.' Those levels of maturity have seen the teenager complete two blocks of work experience, one in a car dealership and the other with a local charity, and a realisation that 'anything is achievable'. This extends to his extra-curricular work, to embracing his own natural creativity and blending it with the skills he has acquired in school. 'He's started to write his own book, we never fell over when he came to us with that,' says Nicola. 'It's a science fiction story, he's done it all by himself. Seeing him doing that, the pride he takes in it, he takes in his schoolwork, is incredible. He's also done some public speaking. The school is navigating a path for him for when he finishes, ensuring there's variety there for him.' Karen's story Since the birth of her daughter 11 years ago, Karen Whitty says she'd had to 'fight for everything'. Diagnosed with an incredibly rare genetic syndrome which affects just 400 children worldwide, Daisy May also has a MGLD and attended a specialised pre-school from a young age. From there she was fortunate enough to go straight into Our Lady of Fatima, straight into an environment which has allowed her to flourish from the outset. 'Her specialist in Crumlin would have always said the reason she is doing so well is because she's in Our Lady of Fatima,' says Karen. 'There's no way she would ever be able to settle into a mainstream setting. I would not do that to her, I wouldn't let her go.' While her place is secure for the upcoming academic year, Daisy May and hundreds of children like her face an uncertain future due to the changes being implemented by the Department of Education and the NCSE. The prospect of having one of the few certainties in her daughter's life taken away fills Karen with dread. 'You have to fight for everything when you have a child with special needs. Everything. Basic things are a fight. Our Lady of Fatima is the one thing we have that we can rely on and now there's a possibility it could be taken away. I couldn't believe it when I saw the letter for the first time, I just thought 'this is typical, here we go'. "She's such a happy little thing at the moment, but the minute she'd walk into a playground in a mainstream school she'd be different straight away. And she doesn't feel that way in Our Lady of Fatima. In there she's not different, she doesn't even see difference, it's just such a lovely environment for her. It's the entire community, from the caretaker to the bus escorts and drivers, it's so reassuring as a parent.' Karen hopes that sense of reassurance will extend well into the future, a future which she believes would otherwise consist of her daughter sitting at home every day, her entire education gone to waste in an inappropriate setting. 'She has seven years left in Our Lady of Fatima, that'll bring her to the Leaving Cert. Her entire future is at stake here. The school will get her ready for when she leaves. She has so much to give and they will get it out of her, they'll make sure she's ready for the world when she walks out those gates for the last time, and that she won't just be left sitting at home with me.' Patience's story Prior to attending Our Lady of Fatima, Patience Saunders daughter had become something of an errand girl in the mainstream school she attended. It wasn't that her services were particularly in demand, that a lot of errands needed doing; it was just the only way the teachers could keep her out of their classes, and thus out of their hair. Now 15, Sophie has been in Our Lady of Fatima for eight years after spending her early years of education in a mainstream setting. "The teachers would have her doing errands, they'd say 'I can get on and teach the other children now when Sophie isn't here',' Patience recalls. "It used to break my heart, I'd actually get a pain in my chest when I got a call from the school telling me that Sophie was being disruptive, that she'd done such and such a thing again today.' Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a MGLD, Sophie is now flourishing in Our Lady of Fatima, in an environment where there is 'lots of acceptance, and love among her peers'. 'For her it's not a school, it's a community,' says her mother. 'The confidence she has now, the belief in herself, she's just a completely different person there.' In the coming academic year Sophie will take on her first set of state exams, and, far from being apprehensive, she is relishing the project. 'She'll be doing her Junior Cert next year and she's excited about taking on the new subjects, they go to Selskar College and St Peter's for some of them,' says Patience. 'She just wants to fit in, I think that's all anybody wants in life. Our Lady of Fatima gives them the tools to become a member of society. If she had remained in mainstream she would have stopped going to school. Once she reached first year in secondary that would have been it.' The future In the wake of the letter issued by the Department of Education, Our Lady of Fatima and the other 29 special schools for children with MGLD issued a joint statement to Education Minister Helen McEntee. It called upon both the Department and the NCSE to 'protect our model, to expand provision across the board, and to invest in the full range of needs' and for Minister McEntee to meet them in person to discuss the issues they are facing. 'It is her responsibility to stop this harmful action, to engage with staff and parents affected and to consider alternatives,' read the statement. And in the Dáil, on July 1, Wexford TD George Lawlor offered his full support to Our Lady of Fatima and schools potentially impacted by these proposed changes. Noting that pupils from the Wexford school had recently gone on to third level and been accepted onto apprenticeship programmes, Deputy Lawlor said these schools, and the children who attend them, needed to be supported. 'We need to stand up for the children with a mild, general learning disability because they thrive in places like Our Lady of Fatima school. They thrive in what these schools offer them. Children who attend special schools like Our Lady of Fatima would definitely struggle for many different reasons, including mental health or high anxiety levels, if they were compelled to go to a mainstream school. 'The students in the likes of Our Lady of Fatima in Wexford town flourish. This school offers the primary curriculum, junior certificate level and level 3 subjects, and has started senior cycle level 2 and the leaving certificate applied. The students receive the same as they would in a mainstream school but the difference is the number of students is smaller. The anxiety they would have felt in a mainstream school has been taken away. Our Lady of Fatima special school can attend to their needs. As a result, the students in this wonderful school and wonderful schools like it across the country are successful in accessing the curriculum. 'The argument that no child should pass the school that is right beside their house is understood, but schools such as the one I have mentioned should be an option for parents who want to send their children to them. The policy outlined in Circular 39/2025 (letter from the Department) creates the risk of students being very unhappy in an environment in which they do not flourish. The success of the children of Our Lady of Fatima special school when they leave school is proof of how it works. "There is a strong chance that these students would not have been able to achieve this in a mainstream setting. Our Lady of Fatima special school is a model that works and the feeling now is that this model is at risk and that the education of the children who are content and anxiety free is at risk. Darryl Cogley, the chairperson of the school parents' association, has a daughter who originally attended mainstream school and then moved to Our Lady of Fatima special school. 'He said that children like his daughter require a specialised school and educational environment, and dedicated support. She got it at Our Lady of Fatima special school and continues to flourish on a day-to-day basis. I ask the Minister of State to re-examine Circular 39/2025 for the benefit of these wonderful schools across the country." Returning to the parents, they say there is one reason behind the proposed changes, one reason why the Department wants to change the provision of special education throughout the country. 'It's down to a lack of funding and resources," says Vanessa, 'they don't want to spend money building schools for these children, schools that are needed. They don't want to invest, they're saying 'you know what, we'll get the kids from MGLD and we'll put them into mainstream and put the kids with profound needs in there instead'. 'But how are teachers going to teach children with MGLD children in classes that are already packed, when their resources are already stretched?' On a potential meeting with either Minister McEntee or the Minister for Special Education, Michael Moynihan, the parents have one simple requirement. 'Engage with us, that's all we want,' says Darryl. 'Come down and talk to us and the parents from the other schools.' They have contacted both departments says Vanessa, but with varying results. 'That's the worst insult. 'Thanks for you letter, here's a generic response, it's been noted'.
Irish Examiner
14-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Can Cape Clear survive? West Cork island school enrols just four children
Cape clear is dying, person by person, year by year, slowly but very definitely, dying. So opens the late Bill O'Herlihy's particularly doom-laden episode of RTE's current affairs series 7 Days about the future of the West Cork island. At the time it was aired 55 years ago, there were 197 people living there. With a woman having died just a week before he and his crew arrived on the island, the community were described as 'battling for survival'. What was noted was the decline in the population, from more than 600 in 1900 to less than 200 when the documentary was made in 1970. 'There are those who claim it will die in their lifetime, that it will be uninhabited, like the Blasket [islands] in 20 years,' O'Herlihy reported. 'The national school emphasises the island's decline today." He pointed out the school had just 31 children enrolled, drastically down from 150 in the 1950s at separate schools for boys and girls. Fast forward to today, and while the island hasn't died and is not uninhabited, it is yet again at a crossroads. This is because the number of children enrolled in Scoil Náisiúnta Inis Chléire for the coming school year is just four. Added to that, it has a housing crisis — there aren't enough homes for people to rent or buy if they chose to live on the island. There is a genuine fear that if the school numbers fall even lower, it could undermine the viability of Ireland's southernmost Gaeltacht island primary school and raise serious questions about the future of the island itself. Indeed, a number of islanders bemoan the fact that it is a long time since they heard the joyous shrieks, shouts, and laughter of children echoing around the undulating hills and boreens that sprawl across the 4km-long Island. Cecilia Uí Dhrisceoil came to Cape Clear from Dublin to attend an Irish course on the island in the 1970s. She was a trainee teacher at the time. When she qualified, she returned to the island to teach. Asked what she thought of the 7 Days episode on Cape Clear on RTÉ, she was unimpressed. 'I was on the island around that time, and I remember that documentary,' Scoil Náisiúnta Inis Chléire's former principal said. It was very dark, very dismal, and very negative and I just said in my own head that 'I hope he is wrong because I'm here for the long haul'. 'He was wrong. Reports exaggerating the island's death are usually by people who are not particularly fond of the island and maybe have other interests outside.' On the situation with the school, she said: 'The school is going through a lean period but it also went through a lean period in my day. 'We managed to get a family from Liverpool who wanted to attend an Irish-speaking school for a year or two and to this day, they come here every Easter holiday." She referenced other families who have come and sent their children to Cape Clear's school, including a woman who worked as a nurse on the island and a family from Cavan, who came in the 1990s and still live there. Comharchumann Chléire Teoranta bainisteoir Kevin McCann, who runs the island's co-op, came with four children and the family now has eight children, and they ensured the survival of the school in their own day. Contradicting anybody who says the island is in a crisis because of the low numbers enrolled in the school, Cecilia adds with a confident nod: 'All you need is one family to change everything.' Currently, Karina Zimmerman's school-age children make up three of the four children enrolled to start in the next school year. Karina Zimmerman at the main office for last weekend's Lavender Festival on Cape Clear. Her three children are enrolled to attend the island's school in the next school year. Picture: Neil Michael The fourth is the four-year-old daughter of Cotter's Bar landlady, Róisín Ní Chonaill, but she is concerned at the "dynamic" of her daughter being in a school made up entirely of another family's children. Saorlaith-Ré has been enrolled to start in September, and it is understood that in another two or three years, her other daughter, Caoilfhionn, may also be schooled on the island. Karina, who is expecting another child, arrived on the island in October 2019. Originally from Germany, the self employed businesswoman and her husband Andreas, who is a chimney sweep and a handyman, 'just came to look' at what the island had to offer her family. As well as deciding to stay, they also changed their mind about home-schooling their children. An issue with the school, which she did not divulge, led to her taking her children out for a time but they are now back. If another issue arose in the coming school year, would she be tempted to do the same again and pull her children from the school? 'It would really depend on, like, if it's changeable or not. I mean, we always go in to talk first and we try to negotiate. 'But if there was something that we're really, really not at all happy with or the children, then I'm sorry, I take the kids out. '[They are] my highest priority. It's nice that it's going hand in hand at the moment, that the children can have that, and it helps the school. But if I have to decide between family and school, it will always be family.' Recalling the time she did take her children out of the school, she said: 'When this happened, people came to us, and then they [told us] 'now the school can get into trouble'. '[It was like] we let the school down but no, we [didn't] let the school down. It's just for me, my kids are more important than school. 'So as long as helping the school goes together with helping my own children, I'm fine." Róisín Ní Chonaill, who admits being fixated with living on an island from an early age, first started coming to Cape Clear about seven years ago. Cotters Bar landlady Róisín Ní Chonaill with her daughters, two-year-old Caoilfhionn and four-year-old Saorlaith-Ré. Picture: Neil Michael The 26-year-old worked in Seán Rua's Seafood Restaurant and An Siopa Beag, run by Neil O'Regan at the North Harbour, a short walk from where ferries dock. After a year at art college on the mainland, she returned to the island to live after she became pregnant with Saorlaith-Ré. She has lived on the island ever since. 'When I was about 17, I had put in my then year book — in answer to the question where would I be in five or six years — that I would be living on an island,' she said. 'It's something I have always wanted to do. When I got here, there was, like, some sort of ancestral thing in me, something to do with the land and the sea and the history of it, the heritage and the Irish. "I'd be quite good at Irish. I loved Irish in school." She is a little torn about Saorlaith-Ré going to the school in September as the numbers are so small. 'What's best for her?' she asks aloud. 'She's very social. She has the social aspect from being in the pub. She's self confident. Even if there was one more family, I'd be happy. That's because of the numbers and a different dynamic. As far as life on the island is concerned, she says it is not as like any other part of rural Ireland as some might think. 'It's actually less like rural Ireland, I would say,' she said. 'You could be a lot more isolated in the back arse of Mayo where there's no houses for miles and miles. 'Here, you've got somebody at every kind of corner or you see the same people every day.' She said that when she returned to the island with Saorlaith-Ré when she was three months old, she felt 'held' by the rest of the community, who gathered around and were keen to help her if she ever needed help. 'I was a young new mom moving out here completely in the middle of winter but I felt really kind of like, I suppose, held by the community. People were making sure I was getting the shopping and all that kind of stuff. 'From a community point of view, there's a definite kind of holding, which is something that's quite rare within the kind of pace of life that we're living in. 'I think it's really special to just find somewhere that is very authentic, like the reality of having to get over things when they happen, and get on with things. 'I think there's a real kind of rawness to that you don't find in modern life as much.' While Mr McCann's role is to help steer through what he describes as a "collaborative process' to find at least one house in the community for a teacher, it is a 'dry run' for a bigger objective. He is one of the many on the island who believe one of the main things at the core of the island's woes is the lack of affordable housing to either buy or rent. The father-of-eight routinely plays in seisiúin in the island's North Harbour club with Cape Clear Island Distillery founder and manager Seamus Ó Drisceoil. Comharchumann Chléire Teoranta bainisteoir Kevin McCann, who runs the island's co-op, at his offices at Cape Clear's North Harbour. Picture: Neil Michael The two men are among a number of islanders behind a variety of initiatives and businesses. What the island wants to do is build houses that the co-op would retain ownership of, and rent out for essential workers or young families. The dilemma for the island is around building and selling affordable housing for people to attract them to the island but who might just buy it and then move away but rent it out as a holiday-let. 'There's a risk that people will come and we'd just be repeating the same mistakes,' he said. 'The house could just end up becoming a holiday home and people would move away, and we'd be back to square one. 'We're talking about a retained ownership housing scheme to help people pay affordable rent in a bid to encourage them to come here and live.' Brennus Voarino, who arrived on the island with his parents from his native France as a teenager in 2010, farms a herd of distinctive belted galloway cattle on the Fastnet Farm he owns and runs with partner Samantha Parsons. A member of the school committee, he is not unduly alarmed about the low school numbers. 'I feel quite positive about the school, ' he said. I think we're in a good position. It could be better but we've gone through more difficult times and we've always pulled through. 'So I think we will pull through again.' However, he feels that a more 'urgent' need is to attract younger families to 'keep the young population going'. He believes in a system of so-called gateway housing, whereby a family can be encouraged to come and live on the island in a low rental property for a set number of years as they save to buy land and build their own home on the island. After a set period of time, they would be expected to leave the gateway housing accommodation to make way for another young family. 'It can be a regular house but you choose who comes in,' he said, suggesting that families with school-age children could be more of a priority than others. 'Maybe families that wouldn't otherwise be able to afford buying a house on the island,' he said. 'They could come in and maybe live here while their kids are in school and maybe then, over that time, they find a piece of land they can buy.' While there is a shortage of available housing, there is no shortage of funds available for the island. More than €240,000 is, for example, to be spent on a new playground at the North Harbour. The tender for the project, which is almost entirely funded by the department of social protection, closed earlier this year. There is also a €35,000-a-year tourist manager job up for grabs to manage the Cape Clear Fastnet Experience and Heritage Centre. Built to replace an existing heritage centre on the island, it received €1m from Fáilte Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta last year. This will, when it opens, help the island operate as a 'last stop' gateway destination for tourists keen to visit the Fastnet lighthouse 6.5km southwest of Cape Clear. Farmer Brennus Voarino with some of his pedigree herd of Belted Galloway cattle. He is eager to see more young families on the island. Picture: Neil Michael. While the co-op does appear to be behind most things on the island, it is not the only entity operating for those living there. Local businesswoman Mary O'Driscoll, who runs a holiday cottage business and two of the island's three pubs with husband Ciarán, was recently involved in bringing a mini methane gas plant to the island. She helps run the voluntary group and charity, Tograí Chléire, which secured grant funding to bring onto the island the west Cork-made MyGug anaerobic digester system that — in effect — turns food waste into methane. Although only a pilot project at the moment which sees the gas being used for cooking in a small number of homes on Cape Clear, the plan is to extend it throughout the island. Tograí Chléire is also behind plans to revive what is known as the Cape Clear Gansey, or Geansaí Chléire, which was specially knit more than a century ago over a period of months from a highly detailed, dense, and durable yarn for fishermen. While the history of the jumper is currently being researched, the island could one day be a base for them to be produced. However, in the meantime, Údarás — which sources millions in taxpayers' money for projects on the island — is not without its critics. Those critics question the use of so much money to fund businesses and related opportunities on an island struggling to provide housing for people who want to work there. A spokesperson said in response: Investment has been strategically focused on developing sustainable economic opportunities that align with our mandate to promote economic development in Gaeltacht areas. Housing provision is the responsibility of local authorities and the department of housing, local government and heritage. But they said the Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta is doing what it can to help 'facilitate' housing. These include a comprehensive property review of Údarás na Gaeltachta's approximate 1,000-hectares estate to 'identify suitable sites to make available for housing for Irish speakers under existing Government schemes'. In addition, a committee of local authorities with Gaeltacht areas is identifying collaborative approaches to housing provision in Gaeltacht areas. The body is also funding a three-year position at Mayo County Council to coordinate the Vacant Property Scheme on behalf of Gaeltacht areas across all counties. One islander has other issues, not least having his own death exaggerated. Retired blind goat herder, Ed Harper, now 76, first came to the island from England in 1973 and has been farming goats on the island since 1979. Now largely house-bound, he was rumoured to have died earlier this year. 'I heard this rumour too,' he says. 'I can't remember where I heard it from, but it was very recent. 'I've got old, my balance has got bad and every bit that can ache does ache from time to time. 'Essentially, I've farmed for 45 years. Now I do bits and pieces, but very little or very seldom. 'That's where the rumour came from, and people hadn't seen me for a while.' Retired goat herder Ed Harper at his home on Caper Clear, from where he is happy to say that reports of his death have been 'greatly exagerated.' Picture: Neil Michael As far as the island dying, he is about as sanguine about that particular rumour as he is about reports of his own demise. 'It probably is dying but the fact of the matter is, Cape Clear has been dying since I first came here in 1973,' he said. 'It is taking a very long time to do it and it probably still will take quite a long time to do it. 'There's less farms than there used to be, and there are a lot less people, and a lot less working people.' As far as the school situation is concerned, he says that in recent years the numbers of children enrolled in it have been 'scraping along the bottom'. 'Four kids is relatively healthy, right, in terms of what has been,' he said. 'But does that mean the island is dying? I think it all depends on what people mean by Cape Clear 'dying'. 'I don't think that it will ever be a classic empty island with, you know, people just coming over on their own boats to admire the ruined houses. It might become an island of basically retired and hobby people from elsewhere, or it might become a place alongside maybe three, four or five large farms. He dismisses the lack of lots of children running and jumping around the school yard to shrieks of laughter echoing around the island as a 'romantic notion'. Ed says he hasn't heard that sound since his own eldest son — now in his 40s — was schooled on the island at a time when there were around 20 children in the school. He also dismisses as 'another myth' the idea that without lots of children in the school, the island's viability is threatened. 'Almost certainly the majority of our children, like the majority of all children born on the island, will not stay here,' he said. 'I mean, if you were to go to Baltimore and ask, how many of the children of Baltimore are still living in Baltimore, it wouldn't be many. 'People however, draw this distinction with Cape Clear because there's a ferry and there is the sea. 'You don't need to keep children. What you need to do is attract somebody else's children. You need to keep attracting lots of people in. 'As far as I'm concerned, reports of my own demise — and the island — have also been exaggerated." Read More West Cork island seeks new head teacher — and more children to help keep its school open
