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Childcare in rural Ireland in crisis, say providers

Parents say preschool’s social benefits are vital post-Covid as 500 close to highlight funding crisis

Shona Andel said her son Milo has come out of his shell since attending a local preschool

David Forsythe
Fri Nov 11 2022 - 17:53

When Shona Andel’s son began attending the local preschool in rural West Cork, it had an immediate impact on his wellbeing.

“He was a Covid baby really, he was low on confidence, he was shy and not really used to people because of the impact of the lockdowns – even a car revving would startle him,” she said.

Since attending St Mary’s Pre-School in Enniskeane, however, she says he has become a new child.

“The difference is tremendous and I really can’t praise the staff enough, they go above and beyond. As a parent you do your best but there really is no comparison with the benefits of going to preschool.

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“His social skills have dramatically improved, he skips to school now, he can’t wait to get there. It’s a safe place and so encouraging and a vital part of growing up for so many kids, without it I don’t know where we would be.”

St Mary’s is one of 500 preschools across the country that closed on Friday as part of a national campaign organised by the Federation of Early Childhood Providers demanding increased funding for the sector.

Julie Murray, who runs St Mary’s, says that without increased funding she may be forced to close for good.

Julie said: “Rural Ireland is different, there are different needs here than there would be in cities like Dublin or Cork but they just don’t seem to realise this. In places like West Cork, full-day care is not an option, there isn’t the demand for it, it has been tried and it doesn’t work. Often here people work part-time or from home or grandparents help out, it is a different situation to the cities.”

Julie says that she employs six staff for 38 weeks per year but they all have to sign-on for the remaining 14 weeks to make ends meet.

She added: “It’s just not viable in the long term for people. We have students coming here and I really worry for them, how can you get a mortgage or just afford to live the way things are going?”

Julie said she pays her staff as much as she can but is not surprised so many are deciding to leave the sector.

“I don’t pay myself at all when we are closed and I have no alternative income and it’s the same up and down the country in many rural areas. Even the small increase in capitation we are looking for could see us through for a year but they really have to look at the whole system because it clearly isn’t working.”

Shona who relies on St Mary’s to enable her to work says that parents in West Cork often have no alternative if the community preschool were to close permanently.

“I fully support the campaign but to be honest I’m shocked that it has come to this. Without St Mary’s, I have no alternative and there are many other parents like me. In the city there may be several providers you can choose from, here there is no other option. If St Mary’s closed there would be 30 or 40 children looking for an alternative and they just aren’t there. Even if child-minding were an option it’s not the same as a preschool with all the social and educational benefits they bring.”

Julie added: “We are not being valued, that’s what it comes down to. We are providing a vital service and it’s only the dedication of staff and providers to the children that keeps it going, it’s certainly not about the money.

“Roderic O’Gorman and Micheál Martin need to visit childcare providers in rural Ireland and listen to what they have to say because at the moment they really seem to have no idea of the reality of the situation.”

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