Parents at one of the State's first all-Irish schools set up at second level say they are appalled at proposals by the Department of Education to move the school back into shared facilities with an English-speaking school.
Parents and management at the 159-pupil Gaelcholaiste Chiarrai in Tralee, Co Kerry, say they will resist what they believe are advanced plans by the Department of Education to move them from their current building at Moyderwell back to a site in the town's Community College at Clash.
"It is a retrograde step going back to where we came from. We would be going back to an English environment. This school has built up its own separate ethos," said Mr Padraig Mac Fhearghusa, parents' representative on the board of management.
The move would seriously threaten the future of all-Irish education in Tralee, he said.
There had been a long campaign for a new school for the growing numbers at the Gaelcholaiste in Tralee. However, if a green-field site were not to be made available, he said, then improving the current building was an option.
A parents' deputation attended a meeting of the Co Kerry VEC in Kenmare last night to ask for support. The VEC chairman, Councillor Breandan Mac Gearailt, says he fully supports the parents.
The Gaelcholaiste parents are also concerned about the removal of principals and chairmen of boards of management from interview boards and appointments committees under new VEC guidelines.
"The board of this Gaelcholaiste and others too now have no means of protecting their Irish-language ethos when it comes to the appointment of teachers. We have an extra burden to carry. We have to keep an eye on recruitment, and parents, particularly in all-Irish schools, may not be fully aware of the impact of these new guidelines," Mr Mac Fhearghusa explained.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that while no final decision had been made on the future premises of Gaelcholaiste Chiarrai, and actual accommodation requirements had yet to be fully defined, the Department would have to factor in surplus capacity in the area.
A spokesperson for the Irish-medium schools co-ordinating body, Gaelscoileanna, said the priority would always be separate green-field sites for gaelcholaisti.