Parents and concerned residents were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Minister Michael Martin at tonight’s public meeting in Star of the Sea primary school. However they were equally disappointed by his lack of commitment, his poor grasp of the facts and his bully boy tactics in shouting down ladies in the audience to make his own point.
The minister denied ever promising a new school, making semantic distinctions about “being approached by the board of management” and giving “sanction” for the project while not committing to it. He also tried to lay blame for the delay on the lack of a site prior to 2006 until it was pointed out to him by the independent chairman Jim Murphy that he was present when the land was handed over in 2000!
Michael McGrath gave a typically wishywashy display, playing on his home town boy status while really saying nothing… He gave an overview of the appointment of a design team for the school but failed to outline any dates or solid progress. Both government TD’s fell short of making any actual commitment to move the project on.
It was clear from the conversations which followed that everyone is fed up of Fianna Fail’s empty promises… The icing on the cake for me personally came when a Nigerian lady said that the school she went to 15 years ago in a “so called developing country” was better than the school her daughter attends in post Celtic Tiger Passage!
Is Passage West the town the Celtic Tiger forgot?
