Fivemiletown: Plan to close County Tyrone primary school is withdrawn

A plan to close a Catholic primary school in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, has been withdrawn.

Through the Education Authority (EA), the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) had formally proposed closing St Mary's from August 2023.

In November, campaigners obtained permission in court to challenge the plan.

Leave was also granted to seek a judicial review on how the proposal was handled.

The latest enrolment figures show there are 50 pupils at the school, well below the sustainability threshold of 105 pupils for a rural primary recommended by the Department of Education.

Despite the threat of closure the number of pupils has almost doubled over the last five years.

In 2019, there were just 27 children at the school and parents say that growth reflects increasing demand in the area.

Eve Bremner, chief executive of CCMS, confirmed to St Mary's that the proposal to close the school had been withdrawn.

She said the CCMS education provision committee met on 20 December to consider the 17 November judgement in relation to the judicial review.

Ms Bremner added that at this meeting the committee took the decision to withdraw the development proposal.

"In line with Department of Education's Sustainable Schools Policy and the Strategic Area Plan 2022-2027, CCMS remains committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum," she said.

"CCMS will continue to review how ongoing sustainability challenges could be addressed and will engage with the board of governors as appropriate in relation to this."

Mairaid Kelly, chairwoman of St Mary's PS board of governors, said parents and supporters of the school were delighted by the news.

Ms Kelly said hundreds of people had marched and almost 10,000 signatures had been collected in support of the school with "support from right across the political spectrum".

"Our school is going from strength to strength, our children are thriving and we hope the removal of this threat will help to increase confidence in our school to enable us to grow and remain as a vital part of this community," she said.

"We look forward to welcoming more families to our school in September."

Sinn Féin assembly member Colm Gildernew said it was "a huge and significant victory for the people of Fivemiletown, and indeed all small rural communities who are fighting for the retention of their services".

Democratic Unionist Party assembly member Deborah Erskine said she was pleased "for the whole of Fivemiletown that St Mary's Primary School will continue to be part of our community".

"The people of Fivemiletown were united in their opposition to this proposal to close this valued rural school, and this decision is a vindication of all of their efforts," she added.

CCMS had said the school was not sustainable due to low pupil numbers.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the body said it "will continue to work with the school community to review how the sustainability challenges can be addressed going forward".

"The Independent Review of Education has outlined that there are too many non-viable small schools in Northern Ireland," it said.

"CCMS remains committed to ensuring all pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and whilst a decision has been made to withdraw the current development proposal to close St Mary's Primary School, Fivemiletown, it remains the case that the school is not sustainable in line with the sustainable schools policy."

A spokesperson for the Department of Education confirmed it had been informed by the CCMS of its decision in relation to St Mary's Primary School.

They added: "Area planning of education provision, in line with the sustainable schools policy, is the responsibility of the planning authorities and, in the case of St Mary's Primary School, this is a matter for CCMS."