Minister to ask about sale of school fields to pay redress money

Minister for Education Richard Bruton is to seek clarification from the Christian Brothers about the sale of 8.5 acres of school playing fields to meet a €10 million debt to the child abuse redress board.

The Minister said he had no direct control in the issue because the sale of land was a matter for the Christian Brothers’ congregation.

However, he said there was a role for the school patron, the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, “to ensure that the current and potential future educational needs of the school, including its capacity to meet future enrolment demands, are prioritised”.

Mr Bruton acknowledged the Christian Brothers wanted to honour their commitments, having paid €21.2 million of their voluntary cash offer to the redress board. However, it would be “very disappointing if the educational needs of the current and future generations of children were compromised in achieving this goal”.

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Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday evening, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett called on the Minister to urgently intervene before the sale to a private developer of the playing fields at Clonkeen College, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, went ahead.

Outstanding debt

He believed the sale had not been concluded, and said if necessary the Minister should have the lands and the school transferred to the State.

The Edmund Rice Schools Trust has responsibility for 95 schools. Mr Boyd Barrett asked: “Is it acceptable that one school of 95 should take the full hit for the outstanding debt of the Christian Brothers to the redress scheme in terms of the loss of all of their playing fields? The school will not have a Gaelic pitch or any of the other playing facilities it had.”

Mr Boyd Barrett said the fields were used by pupils and by a host of football and GAA clubs, including Cabinteely Football Club, Park Celtic, Bray Wanderers, Cuala, Kilmacud Crokes and others.

He asked if it was acceptable for the Christian Brothers to “degrade school facilities at the expense of school students”.

The Dún Laoghaire TD said the Department of Education had invested €10 million on the refurbishment of the school, and more than €650,000 was spent on draining and fencing off the fields, of which the department paid €300,000.

He said it was “outrageous” that a moderate special needs unit would have to be relocated, impacting on students with special needs.

Supreme irony

Mr Boyd Barrett added that “it would be a supreme irony and an absolute outrage if the current and future generations of young people are to be made pay for the crimes of the Christian Brothers against previous generations”.

Pupils, teachers and parents from the school were in the Dáil visitors’ gallery when Mr Boyd Barrett raised the issue.

Mr Bruton said the congregation had written to him on the wider issue of the transfer of its playing fields to the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, and referred to the sale of part of the lands at the college. He said the letter stated that contracts had already been signed with a builder.

Mr Bruton said he would write to the Christian Brothers and seek clarification on a number of issues, including the extend the contracts were legally binding. However, he stressed that he did not have the power to force the transfer of lands to the State.