Frustrated parents of school children in Aughamore, near Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, are to protest outside Leinster House today to highlight what they term as the "subhuman" conditions of the local primary school.
The 101-year-old school in Aughamore has been infested with rats for some weeks now. The school is closed to pupils for the second week, this week, as the problem of rat infestation is being dealt with. The principal of the 76-pupil school, Ms Ann-Marie Stenson, says that while the rats are an obvious problem, the school building has been inadequate for many years.
"On several occasions we have met with various ministers for education over the years and pointed out the serious lack of space in the school, the problem with backed- up sewage and the urgent need for a new school building.
"Yet despite all our hearings with ministers, a new school has not yet been sanctioned for Aughamore. Last February, Minister Woods promised that his Department is giving serious consideration to a new school here but to date there is no progress on that promise," she said.
Parents of pupils at the school met on Monday and decided to march on the Dβil to draw attention to their situation.
Ms Deirdre Dooley, one of the parents' representatives on the school's board of management, said parents were concerned for the health of their children at St Mary's. "We have found dead rats under the floorboards of classrooms, behind skirting boards in the building, and the smell of the vermin is obnoxious. The conditions at St Mary's are subhuman for students and teachers and we are demanding action," she said.