It will not be long now...
...till our wedding day.
There is so much going on in the world of politics that I almost have to keep reminding myself that Ann and I are getting married in less than two weeks. This afternoon, I have to finalize our Mass booklets which in fairness to Ann, she has put together. Mam and Dad (Cllr Tommy Byrne) are thirty years married today, so they are an example we both want to strive to follow.
Laytown schools are still first and foremost on the political, social and, I would say, moral, agenda in our community in Meath East. Shane McEntee and I worked very well together on this issue over the last two weeks and I have to hand it to Shane, he was totally straight and honest with me, which is a rarity as far as I can see in the world of Irish politics. Shane and I met with nearly all of the objectors to the prefabs being located on the grounds of Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh (SSN) over the last number of weeks. At this stage, I understand that no planning appeal to the single storey prefab is headed for An Bord Pleanála, which is good news for Scoil Oilibheir Naofa (SON). Shane and I laid the groundwork for the this, but I think the key thing that has allowed the Parents Council of SSN to hold back has been the massively increased media focus on the issue. When an issue reaches the Nine O'Clock news, there is no turning back. Our duty to the community of Laytown is to keep the media and political focus on this issue, as it is far from resolved. I will be supporting the parents if they decide to protest on the day of Laytown Races. I also compliment the leadership shown by the parents of SSN.
I was interviewed on LMFM's popular Loosetalk radio programme this week and I really enjoyed the type of rapid fire questions that host Michael Reade posits. Clearly the system has failed in the case of SON and I have made this clear to both my colleagues Minister Hanafin and former Education Minister Noel Dempsey. I will be proposing the establishment of a National Schools Delivery Authority to ensure this never happens again. However, and I suppose it is a difficult time to crow, but it has to be said in defence of the Government - the pupil teacher ratio in SSN is down to its lowest ever. This is of course no consolation to the parents of SON.
There is so much going on in the world of politics that I almost have to keep reminding myself that Ann and I are getting married in less than two weeks. This afternoon, I have to finalize our Mass booklets which in fairness to Ann, she has put together. Mam and Dad (Cllr Tommy Byrne) are thirty years married today, so they are an example we both want to strive to follow.
Laytown schools are still first and foremost on the political, social and, I would say, moral, agenda in our community in Meath East. Shane McEntee and I worked very well together on this issue over the last two weeks and I have to hand it to Shane, he was totally straight and honest with me, which is a rarity as far as I can see in the world of Irish politics. Shane and I met with nearly all of the objectors to the prefabs being located on the grounds of Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh (SSN) over the last number of weeks. At this stage, I understand that no planning appeal to the single storey prefab is headed for An Bord Pleanála, which is good news for Scoil Oilibheir Naofa (SON). Shane and I laid the groundwork for the this, but I think the key thing that has allowed the Parents Council of SSN to hold back has been the massively increased media focus on the issue. When an issue reaches the Nine O'Clock news, there is no turning back. Our duty to the community of Laytown is to keep the media and political focus on this issue, as it is far from resolved. I will be supporting the parents if they decide to protest on the day of Laytown Races. I also compliment the leadership shown by the parents of SSN.
I was interviewed on LMFM's popular Loosetalk radio programme this week and I really enjoyed the type of rapid fire questions that host Michael Reade posits. Clearly the system has failed in the case of SON and I have made this clear to both my colleagues Minister Hanafin and former Education Minister Noel Dempsey. I will be proposing the establishment of a National Schools Delivery Authority to ensure this never happens again. However, and I suppose it is a difficult time to crow, but it has to be said in defence of the Government - the pupil teacher ratio in SSN is down to its lowest ever. This is of course no consolation to the parents of SON.
posted by Thomas Byrne at 1:35 PM
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