Students and parents on boarding

The Students "Going back to the west for holidays is a bit bleak, actually," says Shane Joclyn from Galway, although he admits…

The Students "Going back to the west for holidays is a bit bleak, actually," says Shane Joclyn from Galway, although he admits it's good to see his parents once in a while. He also concedes that boarding occasionally gets claustrophobic, so he's glad of the monthly trips home.

Henry Roe, a first year pupil at St Columba's, says he doesn't see that much of his working parents when he's at home anyway, so he finds boarding school "brilliant". Robbie Hollis's parents are in Hong Kong, and with his brother in fifth year, he feels he's better off boarding.

Lewis Mathews has been boarding for eight years and chose to leave his national school in Clifden because he found it "a bit trivial". "There were only six students in my class and we had no sports or other activities. I much prefer boarding. We're one big happy family here." Mathews says he respects his parents more now that he sees them less often. "We don't row over stupid teenage things because we make the most of the time we spend together," he says. "You mature more quickly at boarding school."

Rosy Temple, who's been a boarder since she was eight, agrees that family time is of a higher quality when you're a boarder, but regrets the lack of contact with her local community back home in Donegal. "It's hard to integrate when you go back for holidays. You end up meeting up with other boarders from your school. Once someone asked me, 'Don't your parents love you?'" laughs Rosy. "I don't feel at all distant from my parents - in fact I appreciate them all the more."

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The Parents When Philip Russell first enrolled his son in boarding school he worried that the boy would feel he was being banished. "I had all sorts of concerns about the process but my wife and my son were both very enthusiastic about it. We work ridiculous hours and I believe that boarding school has helped in terms of quality time. I make more of an effort now when the kids are home."

Phillip has since sent his daughter to boarding school too, and is very pleased with the outcome for both of his children, although he admits that boarding is an expensive option, even when you're on a good salary. Between two children Phillip and his partner are currently spending over 30,000 a year on school fees. He feels that the money is well spent, as his children are not only getting a top class education, but they are fed, laundered, tutored, entertained and supervised 24 hours a day as well.

"Let's just say we won't be changing the car for a while, but at least our teenagers aren't eating us out of house and home!"

Sports broadcaster Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was part of a group of parents who lobbied to keep Kerry's all-girls boarding school Coláiste Íde open in the 1990s, after the Mercy Order of nuns decided to pull out. He believes that the boarding option should remain available to Irish parents.

"I was a boarder myself and I loved it. We only went home for the traditonal Christmas dinner and summer holidays. Nowadays boarders get home much more frequently so they get the best of both worlds. It's much easier to study at boarding school."