‘The inaction we’ve experienced is not only heartbreaking – it’s unacceptable.’
A group of 54 parents of children without suitable SEN (Special Educational Needs) school placements have staged a 24-hour sleepout at the Department of Education headquarters in Dublin 1.
Beginning at 1pm on Friday (28 February), the parents said in a statement that this is part of a final effort to draw urgent attention to the ongoing crisis in special education, after repeated pleas for action from the families have gone unanswered by the Department.
According to the parents, their children – along with many others with special educational needs – continue to be either placed in inappropriate settings or left without a school placement entirely.
As such, the protest aims to:
- Shine a light on the critical shortage of suitable SEN school places for the 54 identified children and others like them
- Urge the Department of Education to implement immediate and effective measures to address the gaps in support
- Demand transparency and accountability in the allocation of resources to special education
“We have exhausted all conventional channels, and this sleep-out is our last resort,” said one of the protesting parents.
“Our children deserve safe, inclusive, and appropriately resourced educational environments. The inaction we’ve experienced is not only heartbreaking – it’s unacceptable.”
One of its organisers Charlotte Cahill has said that she is representing her five-year-old daughter Cyra who is autistic.
Cyra is currently in her third year of preschool because a school place has been unavailable for the past two years.
One of the tents at the 24-hour sleepout
Speaking to press on behalf of her daughter and “for every child who has been let down by a system so broken”, Ms. Cahill said:
“This is not just unfair. It is a violation of your basic human rights. The Irish Government have made promises but promises mean nothing without action.
“Why is Ireland standing still? Why are they watching as our children are failed? Education is not a privilege. It’s your right.
“But instead of solutions, we’re faced with delays, excuses, neglect and broken promises.
“To our leaders, let me be clear, we do not want to hear another state apology years from now for the neglect of our children. We do not want our children to become the next scandal, the next shameful chapter in the Irish history of institutional failures.
“Our children deserve better. They deserve an education system that values them for who they are, a system that supports their potential instead of shutting doors in their faces.”
This is the latest in a series of protests outside of Government buildings held by relatives of children with special educational needs.
Back in September, Nadine Staunton from Dublin staged a protest outside the Dail to highlight the need to get one of her two autistic sons into post-primary special needs education.
Also, disability rights campaigner Cara Darmody (14) led a ‘monster meeting’ protest outside Leinster House, calling on the Irish government to provide adequate Assessments of Needs (AONs), services, and school placements for autistic children and children with other disabilities.
She has gained national attention for her campaigning and has met with Micheál Martin and Simon Harris to discuss the issues.
Last week, meanwhile, Lankum’s Radie Peat and her partner Dan Lambert – Chief Operating Officer of Bohemians Football Club and manager of Kneecap – appeared on RTÉ Radio 1’s Oliver Callan show about having to fight for services for their autistic daughter.
Mr. Lambert said: “A lot of people have spoken out about this for a very long time if you search back.
“Ireland has a terrible track record in terms of its protection of vulnerable people since the foundation of the State really – and then you find where we are now that the services that you should receive and that other people receive across the world are so far behind and so broken here.
“One thing I’d like to say… we were obviously phoned by The Irish Times and were contacted by your show. The vast vast vast majority of people in our position aren’t phoned by anybody. And they are in a much more difficult position. They are not able to come on the radio and speak about it.”
Radie Peat added: “I did have to really fight to get her the assessment of need. But the thing is that you keep thinking that like at the next step, the people will come to help and it’ll become fair and something will happen. And then you get to the next step and you realise there’s nothing there.
“You do the assessment of need. Even the referral process, trying to figure out how this thing works is like a full-time job. It’s labyrinthine. It is really difficult.”
She also said: “I had to ring a lot and be really persistent and probably really annoying. To find the time to do that while you’re also – I can’t stress enough – working, you’re also taking care of your child and then you have this mountain of admin to just try beg.
“Literally, beg. I have begged. I have cried. I have begged… You feel desperate. You literally are desperate. Even trying to get a creche place for her, I have begged many times.”
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