Classes at the Cork School of Music (CSM) have been cancelled today as over 60 members of the teaching staff begin industrial action over the Government's failure to deliver funding for a new school.
Three years since the project got the green light, CSM staff will present themselves for work at the Cork Institute of Technology's campus in Bishopstown this morning to request the allocation of suitable accommodation in which to conduct classes.
Staff of the 3,500-pupil school are refusing to work in the current set-up which sees classes conducted in 16 different locations around the city. This morning they are calling on the Government to clarify the status of the new college project, which was first initiated in 2000.
"The idea is that we will go to CIT, and management will have nowhere to put us. They will have to ask the Department of Education for a response to our action," teacher Mr Gerry Kelly said yesterday. "We have no wish to disrupt classes and this action is causing huge upset amongst staff and our morale is very low.
"We really feel like we're down an alley and have nowhere to go. We need to know if it's going ahead because at the moment we're just left hanging," he said.
According to Mr Kelly, the necessity for a new CSM is even more urgent as Cork's title as European Capital of Culture 2005 looms on the horizon. "If you visit any city like Barcelona, you will see such a building as what we want for Cork. It will be a landmark building that will indicate quality and something that the people of Cork can share in.
"What will our European visitors think if this project doesn't go ahead? It will be a very poor reflection of Ireland and very damaging for Cork," he said.
In addition to a series of industrial actions, staff say they will embark upon a political campaign and stand people in next year's local elections if that is what is required. "We have the support of Cork behind us - we've entertained and taught thousands of people and everybody has a link with the school. It's not a road which we'll go down lightly but we will take it if we have to," Mr Kelly added.
CSM students are expected to lend their support to striking staff and join in the protest at the Bishopstown campus this morning.