St Eunan's College students raise concerns over inadequate facility to Minister

St Eunan’s College students have written to the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, and asked her to visit the Letterkenny school, which they say has become inadequate and overcrowded.

A €30 million extension to the College, located at Sentry Hill, was confirmed in 2021 and while planing permission was granted in 2022 by Donegal County Council, plans have hit an apparent impasse.

In a letter, signed by Head Boy Cian Blake, the students say they are majorly concerned by the delays to the construction works.

“Our current facilities are simply not adequate to meet the dynamic needs of students and staff in 21st century Ireland,” the letter says. “St. Eunan’s prides itself on its commitment to academic excellence, in addition to its pledge to provide extra-curricular activities for all pupils. Yet the current facilities restrict the potential of our students on a daily basis.”

Almost 1,000 students attend St Eunan’s College and Minister Foley has been invited to the school to see the facility at first hand.

The letter, which has been co-signed by members of the Student Council, says that the resources currently available at St Eunan’s College ‘are grossly insufficient, compared to the needs of students over 50 years ago when our school was last renovated’.

The students said: “St. Eunan’s College contains one art room, two woodwork/construction rooms and two technical graphics/DCG rooms. As a result, it is simply not possible for students of these subjects in both Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate to benefit wholly from these facilities due to the number of classes in relation to hours available.

“The school is also limited in that it has only two science labs, one of which has a teacher in residence, meaning that only a single lab is available for the entirety of the school, so delays in practical working follow suit.”

The letter points out that there are only two sets of toilet facilities, one inside and one outside, ‘which is hardly appropriate for almost one thousand boys to use’.

“Constraints have arisen repeatedly in relation to crowded environments,” it says. “This, unintentionally, fails to allow leadership to be distributed effectively. The transition year, fifth year and sixth year prefects of our school each work a shift in our canteen throughout the week to serve food at break/lunch.

“The compact nature of our canteen tends to create a hierarchical structure of leadership while working in the canteen, as opposed to the teams-based structure which almost all institutions aim to replicate.

“This issue is also reflected in the struggle of offering a collaborative leadership approach to decision-making. As a leader, I value the thoughts and opinions of all prefects. However, the congested conditions in our school create a fundamental communication barrier.”

The students believe that the lack of designated collaborative spaces ‘only seems to hinder the development of any cohesive and communicative team’’ and say that many of the classrooms have become unfit for purpose.

The letter said: “It has become common for the classrooms in our school to feature mould on the walls, as is having classrooms which insufficiently regulate their temperature and hallways which pose a great difficulty to navigate at the change of class. The lack of full accessibility for disabled individuals is also a significant cause for concern.

“This is especially evident when considering that students who are temporarily on crutches due to an injury struggle immensely to manoeuvre the building.”

The proposed extension would include 37 general classrooms and 20 special teaching rooms as well as other facilities.

The students, who have said that they feel ‘marginalised’, told Minister Foley of the deep sense of pride in the school and its success.

They said: “The strength and resilience of our students has a ripple effect on those around them. And we are firm believers that there is no challenge ahead which cannot be overcome when we decide to confront it together.

“It is the shared belief here in the College that our continuous efforts towards academic success, physical and mental wellbeing are not fully recognised due to our geographical location.”