Madam, - I enjoyed the extract from David McWilliams's new book, The Pope's Children, about the Gaelscoileanna attracting the new "HiCos" sophisticated elite but lest your readers get the impression that attracting elites is what all-Irish schools are about it is worth pointing out that while there are two all-Irish schools in upper-class Ranelagh there are three in Tallaght, two in Clondalkin, two in Cabra, two in Ballymun and one, newly set-up in September, in Finglas.
None of these are areas which could be accused of harbouring the HiCos. Indeed, the salient sociological fact and one of the strengths of the Gaelscoileanna movement is that it is rooted in every social class and is present in all parts of the country: urban and rural working class, middle class and upper class.
I have no doubt that the Gaelscoileanna movement will continue to grow, as witnessed by the fact that six applications for new primary schools for next September are currently with the Department of Education. - Yours, etc,
BREANDAN Mac CORMAIC, Cathaoirleach, Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscoileanna, Páirc Theampall Ruáin, B.A.C. 16.
Madam, - I know that David McWilliams has a book to promote and probably welcomed the opportunity to display his clever soundbites in his article on Gaelscoileanna. However, was it necessary for the Irish Times Education Today section to give almost a whole page to showcasing an extract from his book which was poorly researched and full of lazy stereotypes? The growth of Gaelscoileanna in recent years has indeed been impressive and it would be interesting to read a proper analysis of what it is that attracts people to this type of education. This article was simply an extrapolation from narrow observations of two schools located in the same area of Dublin.
Gaelscoileanna, contrary to what the article suggests, are not the exclusive preserve of the "sophisticated elite in Dublin's southside suburbia". There is now at least one Gaelscoil in every county in the country.
I teach in an all-Irish secondary school on the north side of Dublin. We draw our students from feeder schools, some new and some long established, in Glasnevin, Whitehall, Cabra, Ballymun, Ashbourne, the inner city and other areas. Our students come from across the social and economic spectrum. None of their parents matches the caricatures presented as fact in the article.
I would be far more interested in reading an article about the elite nature of the fee-paying schools which are supported and funded by tax-payers from all over the country and not just from the leafy suburbs of South Dublin rather than this type of piece about Gaelscoileanna which are free and open to all. - Mise le meas,
CARMEL GRAY, Whitehall, Dublin 9.
Madam, - I was surprised and very disappointed to read in Tuesday's Irish Times the extract from David McWilliams's book in which he mocked the Gaelscoileanna. However, your paper has done me a favour as it has spared me from wasting any of my Christmas budget on his book, which I had on my Christmas wish list. His article was not only grossly incorrect but also showed what a narrow focus David McWilliams has on the world in which he lives.
Given that he mentioned in his article that there are now 200 Gaelscoileanna in our country why is it that he choose to write about only two schools which are located in Dublin 6? I have children going to a Gaelscoil primary and also a Gaelscoil secondary at present in Bray in Co Wicklow and I cannot make any connection with his summary of the "typical" Gaelscoil parent.
There are three Gaelscoileanna in Bray, two junior schools and one secondary, and there is a wonderful mix of families from all backgrounds attending them. They are certainly not exclusive clubs where only children of business professionals are sent. In fact, his suggestion that parents send their children to Gaelscoileanna because it is the nearest they get to teaching them themselves without being paid a lowly teacher's salary is ludicrous. Many of the parents of the children going to the Bray Gaelscoileanna are in fact teachers and they have obviously realised that the Gaelscoileanna provide a good education for their children. - Yours, etc,
AILEEN BRENNAN, Bray, Co Wicklow.