East Belfast may get Irish-medium school

Linda Ervine says there is a demand for Irish-medium education in the east of the city

There are plans to open the first Irish-medium school in east Belfast.

A number of organisations are behind the proposal, including the NI Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) and Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG).

The proposal would involve the creation of a new Irish language nursery and primary school.

As the project is in its early stages, however, no prospective site has yet been identified.

Linda Ervine, from the Irish-language organisation Turas, is also involved in the plans.

Turas has been running Irish classes for adults in the Skainos centre in east Belfast for a number of years.

Scoil an Droichid is the sole Irish-medium school in the south and east of Belfast

Ms Ervine said there was a demand from some parents in the area for Irish-medium education.

"We know there is a demand and we feel there is a gap in east Belfast at the minute," she said.

"We've already got parents who have registered their babies and said 'we want our children to attend an Irish medium school'."

There are already nine Irish-medium primary schools in Belfast but only one, Scoil an Droichid, in the south and east of the city.

It is in the lower Ormeau area but there are plans to move to the former Ulidia primary school site close to Ormeau Park.

'It's parental choice'

Ms Ervine said a location for any new school would depend on available sites and access for pupils.

"If there was a big demand in one particular part of east Belfast then we would try to site it as near to that as possible," she said.

"I suppose there will be some people who maybe don't feel that it is what they want in east Belfast."

"But this is not going to be forced on anybody; it's parental choice - it's for parents who do want to have the opportunity for their children to attend an integrated Irish-medium school."

"We're hoping by 2020 to set up a 'pre-pre-school' and that would be for children aged three."

Turas has been running Irish language classes out of the Skainos Centre in east Belfast

Ms Ervine said it was planned that pupils enrolled for the nursery provision would then go on to enrol in the new primary school.

However, establishing any new school requires a written development proposal that makes the case for why it is needed.

That would then be subject to public consultation and would eventually have to be approved by the minister or permanent secretary at the Department of Education (DE).

The DE has a duty under existing legislation to encourage and facilitate the development of both integrated education and Irish-medium education.