The parents of a child caught in a school catchment dispute in south Galway have lifted their threat of legal action against the Minister for Education and Science, following a temporary resolution of their situation.
Parents involved in the dispute on the Galway-Clare border have accused the Minister's Department of taking the "soft option", and claim an amendment of the school transport regulations is urgently required. The Department of Education and Science has said that no review of transport regulations is planned.
Solicitors for Mr John O'Donoghue and Ms Catherine Sides of New Quay, Co Clare, warned last month that legal proceedings would be initiated over the Department's refusal to allow their daughter, Katie, to take the school bus to Gort Community School - which is outside their catchment area. The couple, who are in a mixed marriage, had selected Gort for its non-denominational education and range of subjects.
One bus serving both Gort and the school in their catchment area - Seamount convent in Kinvara - passes their door and has vacant seats. However, the board of management of Seamount had exercised its right under amended Department of Education regulations to refuse permission for Katie to board or alight at the stop outside her home.
Her parents were forced to drive 16 miles to the catchment boundary at Killina - a round trip of 160 miles a week - to enable her to avail of school transport. Several other families who contacted The Irish Times confirmed their daughters had also been caught in the same situation.
This week, the Department of Education and Science informed Mr O'Donoghue and Ms Sides that their daughter would be issued with a temporary ticket from outside their house at New Quay, on the basis that it posed no extra cost to the State. However, the Department told The Irish Times the decision related only to this family.
Mrs Marie Walsh of Ardrahan Road, Kinvara, who has one daughter starting in Gort, has been told she will still have to drive her child to the catchment boundary. Ironically, her son can take the bus to Gort from their closest pick-up point at Kinvara, a mile and a half away, as the nearest boys' secondary school is in Gort.
The parents of at least three other children are in a similar situation. One mother in Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, said she would be forced to enrol her daughter in Seamount against her will. Her daughter preferred the subject range in Gort and also required resource teaching.
