Dublin City Council plans to sell to a private developer a vacant site earmarked for a new national school unless the Department of Education commits to funding the project.
St Brigid's National School in The Coombe, with 220 pupils, was to be relocated to the neighbouring site several years ago because of the dilapidated condition of its current, 116-year-old premises.
Lack of funding, however, has stalled the project, and because of this the city council says it has been forced to put the site - a former corporation car park - up for sale.
Mr Sean Purcell, manager of the local authority's Liberties Coombe Integrated Area Plan, said: "Our preference has always been for a school to be built here. But we will go ahead with a private development if there is no commitment from the Department on funding.
"We don't want a site like this lying empty for God knows how long," he said.
Teachers and parents of children at the school are to march on the Department's headquarters tomorrow in protest over the lack of funding. They are also urging the city council to hold off on a decision on whether to sell the site pending further negotiations.
Teacher Ms Deirdre Cronin said there were no other appropriate sites in the area.
She said the Department had sanctioned the new building in 1999 after deeming the current premises unsuitable. "We have 120 children under the age of eight having to play in a laneway seven-feet wide at the side of the school," Ms Cronin said.
In a statement yesterday, the Department said its commitment to building a school on the site was "evidenced by the fact that we have progressed plans for a new school on the site to stage three", namely the stage prior to seeking planning permission.
"Progress in 2004 and future years will depend on available resources," the Department said.
