The Mercy Order has been strongly criticised for its decision to close Seamount College secondary school in Kinvara, Co Galway.
The accusation has been levelled by Seamount College's board of management, which was informed of the move late last week.
The board says the timing of the announcement was "cynical", in that its own term of office is due to expire in a matter of days. It had been until recently considering a new five-year plan for the school, but the school trustees in the Mercy Order intend to replace the outgoing board with a manager who will oversee closure in three years.
The secondary school for girls, with 243 pupils, is on valuable coastal property, and has a pupil intake extending from Oranmore, south of Galway city, to Ballyvaughan on the Clare border. The Dominican Order recently sold a school building in Taylor's Hill, Galway, for €6.3 million.
The Mercy Order says the decision to close is based on the fact that sufficient funding to provide appropriate facilities and a suitable wide curriculum will not be available into the future.
The outgoing school board said that the move would "consign the children of Kinvara for generations to travel to overcrowded schools in neighbouring towns". The nearest school in Gort has over 700 pupils.
