Parents queue for two days to secure places in Dublin school

Parents in Swords, north Dublin, yesterday began what could be a two-day queue to secure places for their daughters in the local girls secondary school.

Chairs and tents dotted the grass verge outside the gates of the Loreto College, River Valley, which begins to allocate places tomorrow at 9am for September 2007.

By teatime yesterday up to 70 people were outside the school in a queue which had begun forming as early as 6am yesterday - more than 48 hours before places were to be given out.

At the top of the queue, Paula Martin said she was there for her niece, whose mother was in hospital having a baby.

Under Loreto College admission policy, places in its 120-strong first year are first reserved for students from feeder schools and for girls who have sisters attending. The remaining places are then allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Parents told The Irish Times they believed this policy was the fairest available even if it meant queuing for two nights. Some believed that once the numbers in the queue exceeded the places available the school authorities should allocate tickets for these to allow parents to go home.

Donna Brady, who had been queuing since 6.30am, said she wanted her daughter, Lucy, to attend Loreto College as it was an all-girls school, had a good reputation and was only five minutes walk from her home.

Tom Daly and John Carroll, queuing for their daughters, said they believed the system for allocating places was the fairest. Mr Daly said the school was popular with parents as it was within walking distance for most. A lot of young girls in the area wanted to go there because their friends went there.

Labour Party TD Sean Ryan, who was outside the school last evening, said it was an absolutely scandalous situation in 2006 for parents to have to queue for 48 hours to get their daughters into the school of their choice.

He said the Minister for Education Mary Hanafin was "sitting on her hands" in the guise of waiting for an official school-needs study for Dublin. It was self-evident, he added, that if houses for young couples were built in an area, primary and second-level schools would be needed.

Last night, Loreto College said it wished it was in a position to accommodate all students who wanted to enrol. Its admission policy was fair, transparent, free from manipulation and had been successfully defended on appeal, it said.

The school had been built for 500-550 students but 630 were studying there.