12 Mayo schools identified as  "at risk of closure"

12 rural schools in Mayo have been deemed to be at this risk of closing according to INTO.

Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) President Brendan Horan is appealing to parents, guardians and grandparents in County Mayo to use their voice to protect rural schools in their areas with at least 15 rural schools having closed nationwide in the past year.

The primary teachers union has identified twelve schools in the county which they have deemed to be at risk of closing.

The analysis undertaken by the INTO is based on figures from the Department of Education and Youth (DEY) which track the number of schools with less than 16 pupils last year.

The INTO is now asking concerned families to use their ‘Email Your TD’ tool – available at into.ie/budget2027 – to send a quick email, taking roughly 1 minute, to raise the matter with local TDs and public representatives.

INTO President Horan explained: “As the allocation of teachers depends on the number of pupils when enrolment declines to 16 or less pupils it becomes a really critical situation for a school. The small rural school creeps closer to losing its second classroom teacher and overnight questions arise about its future viability. 

“Frankly, the Department of Education and Youth applies a ruthless and clinical formula which takes no account of the importance of a local primary school in a small rural community, and how these schools, their pupils and teachers are so often the heart and soul of so many areas.”  The INTO is highlighting the issue as part of the union’s Budget 2027 campaign, which calls for ‘1,000 More Primary Teachers for Our Children to Thrive’.

They are calling on the Government to invest €20 million in 2027 from the forthcoming Budget to address a range of issues in primary and special education.  They said the Government’s failure in the last three budgets to lower the enrolment figures required for retaining teachers in small rural schools has left 75 such schools under severe threat of closure. 

Horan explained: “We are avoiding naming these schools now out of respect for staff and parents – unless schools have already spoken out on the issue – so as not to create unnecessary fearmongering, but the statistics are known amongst affected schools.”  The INTO President also called out Minister Hildegarde Naughton for ‘hypocrisy’ on the issue after a speech she recently delivered at Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew, Co Wicklow.

Horan said: “The Minister stated that rural schools, and I quote, are: “not only centres of education, they are places where communities can come together, where lifelong friendships are formed and where a strong sense of belonging is being fostered.’ “Well, if that is how she feels, it’s a funny way to show how valued rural schools are by letting at least 15 of them close nationwide in the space of the last year alone!”

Since August 2024, the Government has cut the number of mainstream class teachers by over 900. Horan explained that such cuts impact various areas of education.

The union’s president said: “Issues relating to staffing and class sizes impact on so many areas of primary education. For example, the majority of children with additional needs attend mainstream schools, not special schools, yet many mainstream schools have seen their allocation of special education teachers (SET) reduced.

“Our union colleagues in Fórsa have understandably pushed to get more Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) recruited, but this should not come at the cost of teachers – which is the approach the Government is taking.”

“It should not be a binary ‘either/ or’ choice. The Government is robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is our pupils and their families who are ultimately getting short-changed!” “We must halt the cull of mainstream teachers and protect our schools,” said Horan.

“Please use our email tool and raise your voice with TDs.”