Sir, - From reports on radio and television it is shocking to see and hear of the condition of some primary schools in different parts of the country. It is a national disgrace and Ministers for Education, past and present, should be ashamed of themselves.
As far back as I can remember, and in the time when my own children were going to school, I have been reading similar stories of sub-standard conditions in some rural schools that would even shock a third-world despot.
One can accept, up to a point, that money was tight previously. But with the economy booming for the past 10 years and when there was plenty of money in the State's coffers, it is a scandal that primary schools still suffer so much neglect. One could be quite cynical and believe that because schoolchildren do not have a vote they are not a priority.
What I find extraordinary is that the Taoiseach would seriously consider spending millions on a proposed sports stadium and he cannot see, or does not want to see, a crying need to spend the money, on among other things, school playgrounds!
I believe he would be remembered long after he has departed the political scene as a Taoiseach who improved the lot of school children for generations to come rather than splashing out taxpayers' money on a stadium for which there is no great demand. I am confident the vast majority of taxpayers would agree. We could call the change of heart the "Bertie Bolt" because it would be out of the blue and unexpected! - Yours, tc.
Hazelbrook Road,
Terenure,
Dublin 6W.