Campaigners fighting against the closure of a rural primary school in Co Tyrone say the proposal has “finally been withdrawn”.
St Mary’s Primary School in Fivemiletown, which has just over 40 pupils, has faced months of uncertainty after it was told by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) that it had been deemed “unsustainable”.
A campaign to scrap the closure was launched, which received the backing of several MLAs including Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill.
Protests were also held by parents, pupils and members of the board of governors with claims the closure would be a “great blow” to the community. A legal challenge was also mounted.
Mairaid Kelly, chair of the school’s board of governors, said they have now “received confirmation that the proposal to close the school has finally been withdrawn”.
“To say we are delighted with the news that all of our efforts have finally achieved our goal of saving our school would be an understatement,” she said.
“Hundreds of us marched through the streets, we collected almost 10,000 signatures in support of our school and we had 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.”
The campaign received cross-community political support with motions passed in both Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and Omagh councils in opposition to the proposal to close the school.
A joint letter was submitted by MLAs Colm Gildernew (Sinn Féin), Deborah Erskine (DUP) and Tom Elliott (UUP) to the Department of Education’s permanent secretary Mark Browne, asking for questions to be answered in relation to the application of the ‘Sustainable Schools Policy’.
Welcoming the news, Mr Gildernew said: “This is 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”.
Ms Erskine added that “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”.
Parish priest, Fr Brendan Gallagher, also said he was “delighted that CCMS have withdrawn the proposal to close St Mary’s”.
“I don’t think that they fully appreciated the importance of St Mary’s to the life of our parish community here in Fivemiletown,” he said.
A CCMS spokeswoman said: “The Independent Review of Education has outlined that there are too many non-viable small schools in Northern Ireland.
“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.
“CCMS will continue to work with the school community to review how the sustainability challenges can be addressed going forward”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said it had been informed by CCMS that “it has decided to withdraw at this time” the proposal to close the school.
He added that “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”.
