A campaign to prevent a 100 year-old Cork school from closing will be stepped-up tonight with parents and teachers due to meet local TDs and councillors in the hope of enlisting their support.
The campaigners remain vehemently opposed to a merger of St Finbarr's College, Farranferris, and the larger school of the North Monastery which was first proposed over 18 months ago.
Three weeks ago they issued a plea to the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley, to meet them to discuss the possibility of keeping the school open, which they said resulted in a one-line letter of decline. However, the bishop denied refusing to meet the concerned parties and said he was never specifically invited to such a meeting. "The letter asked the bishop to take time to reflect on the issue and that is exactly what he is doing," a spokesman for the bishop said.
According to Dr Buckley, the merger is in response to falling numbers at both schools and offers an opportunity to provide a state of the art educational facility and better opportunities for career development throughout the neighbourhood.
"An official from the Department of Education came down and outlined the clear demographic trends which show that numbers are falling. There were 336 pupils in 1998 in Farranferris, whereas there are only 257 now. This decline is also evident in the North Mon.
"There is just a field between the two schools, of which both campuses are quite old and will need significant capital resources to maintain as well as develop. It makes sense to merge the two," the spokesman added.
However, parents and teachers of Farranferris say they are determined to redouble their efforts to prevent the school's closure.The group are due to meet local councillors and elected Dáil representatives this evening at Farranree Community Centre.