'Relief' as Brollagh school closure is halted again

Plans to close a small rural secondary school in County Fermanagh have been halted for a second time, after parents and pupils campaigned to keep it open.

St Mary's High School in Brollagh was first threatened with closure in 2014, but the then education minister, John O'Dowd, decided it should stay open.

In September this year, a new proposal to shut the school was published.

But that proposal has now also been withdrawn, so officials can consider public objections to the closure.

Campaigners said parents and pupils cried tears of "relief" when the U-turn was announced on Thursday.

However, education officials told BBC News NI they will consider the objections raised before "revisiting the proposal" within the context of a "wider area solution".

The high school, near Belleek, is managed by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).

The CCMS wanted to close the school in 2014 due to its falling enrolment.

At that time, St Mary's had 121 pupils, far below the recommended minimum number.

Since then, numbers have fallen further and currently there are 86 pupils enrolled.

The County Fermanagh school is in a rural location, just a short distance from the Irish border.

St Mary's had previously approached schools in County Donegal and County Leitrim in order to form cross-border partnerships, but these did not develop.

Campaigners who objected to the closure of St Mary's complained it would lead to a further erosion of public services in a deprived rural area.

They also pointed out that schoolchildren, who already faced long journeys to school, would be forced to travel even further for their education.

Jane Weir, secretary of St Mary's High School Parents' Action Group, told BBC News NI that some children face spending up to 15 hours on buses, every week.

"Currently, a bus picks its first child up at five past seven in the morning in Garrison, to get to school for nine o'clock, with a bus change.

"Their return journey drops them off in Garrison at a quarter past five in the evening, meaning they would have a 10-hour day, spending nearly three hours a day on a bus."

She added: "Extra curricular activities would be impossible due to the lack of public transport infrastructure, one bus a week serves Garrison/Belleek."

Ms Weir welcomed the stay on the closure plans, saying: "We literally had parents and children in tears when they heard this news."

The school's former principal left his post at the end of October and an acting principal, Simon Bradley, was appointed to take charge.

Mr Bradley was informed of latest U-turn in a statement from the CCMS.

It said: "At its recent meeting, the Education Committee discussed the issues raised during the public objection period to the proposal to cease provision at St Mary's High School, Brollagh.

"Having given these matters their due consideration, the committee has determined that they wish to withdraw the current development proposal.

"The committee did, however, emphasise their commitment to addressing the educational needs of the children in the Brollagh area and so will revisit the proposal subject to exploration of a wider area solution."

The CCMS also thanked staff and school governors, acknowledging it had been a "difficult process".