Parents can be assured that steps are being taken to ensure the safety of students at Gaeltacht summer schools, a representative body said yesterday.
Comhchóiste Náisiúnta na gColáistí Samhraidh (Concas), which represents a majority of Irish colleges, said it had this week advised all its member colleges to ensure that students were not left unsupervised.
This follows reports of two alleged sexual assaults last weekend on students attending summer schools in the Co Donegal Gaeltacht. Both alleged assaults took place last Friday night, about 10 miles apart, though gardaí do not believe there was any connection between them.
Máirtín Ó Siadhail, secretary of Concas, said the latest advice followed the distribution of a comprehensive set of guidelines for parents, cúntóirí and teachers.
The guidelines, compiled after consultation with bodies such as the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Rape Crisis Centre, Barnardos and the Garda, suggest ways of preventing bullying and any form of abuse and ensuring "the physical and emotional safety of students", Mr Ó Siadhail said.
"The question we have to ask is: where are the children going to be vulnerable, when are they going to be vulnerable and what are we going to do about it . . . You can give them their freedom, but you should keep an eye on them," he said.