LAST UPDATE | 20 Aug 2020

TAOISEACH MICHEAL MARTIN has been confronted by a schoolteacher in Skibbereen, Co Cork this afternoon over what she describes as “unsafe” plans for the reopening of schools. 

“Parents are going to be sending kids into an unsafe situation,” she told Martin, who had this morning visited Nagle Community College in Cork.

“With respect, I’m going into a school in Co Dublin … this is not just me, a lot of people I know in Co Dublin, Kildare are going into classrooms where there’s 28, 29, 30 kids. That is criminal because … kids will get it, staff will get it, parents will get it and the wider community will get it,” the teacher said.

She asked the Taoiseach to reconsider a “plan B” so that “all teachers are in, all students are in, but that it’s done safely”.

“That means that some of the students may not be in for the full time but they’re in safely.” 

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Martin responded to the woman and said it is his intention to have a “safe reopening of schools”.

“We’ve been in touch with teachers all over the country, we’re getting feedback from all over the country, it’s positive feedback, I’ve been to a school this morning to see how they’re going to do it,” he said. 

When later asked if he accepts whether he has lost a lot of the public in terms of messaging, Martin said: “Ah no, I wouldn’t accept that at all in terms of schools, now come on.”

‘Overall message is clear’

Earlier, following his visit to Nagle Community College, Martin rejected suggestions of mixed messages over new measures to prevent Covid-19 transmission in the community. 

He said the “overall message is very, very clear”.

“The numbers have gone up substantially in the last two weeks compared to a month earlier. That’s it. The numbers have gone up. We have to respond,” he said.

Martin said that community transmission must be kept as low as possible to prevent the need to “revert to lockdown”.

“The overall message is NPHET and public health advice want to reduce gatherings as much as they possibly can. They want people to reduce the number of social contacts that they have,” Martin said.

“Why? Because the numbers have gone up. We want to save lives, we want to protect livelihoods. There’s a balance all along the way here in terms of assessing these issues.”

Martin’s comments come following 24 hours of confusion and contrary messages over the numbers allowed inside venues like museums, cinemas, theatres and art galleries. 

The government issued a statement this afternoon offering some clarity on the matter. 

Last night, Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn also acknowledged that there has been some confusion over the new public health measures announced on Tuesday. 

Speaking during a five-minute video shared by the Department of Health, Dr Glynn said the reason for the new measures was that the growth rate of Covid-19 was now the “third highest” in the EU. 

Glynn said that clusters of the virus have been recorded in a range of settings, including 75 in family settings. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Nagle Secondary Community College Julien Behal Photography Julien Behal Photography

Schools

Meanwhile, during his visit to the school in Co Cork today, Martin was given a tour of the facility and information on health and safety measures.

He also emphasised that the development of children was paramount.

“We are going ahead with the school opening. I think we have taken steps now which will hopefully have an impact on [Covid] numbers. This morning I wanted to see at first hand myself the types of changes that are being made to schools in the various school settings to facilitate the re-opening of schools,” Martin said.

“I am very impressed here by Nagle Community College – very interesting to see the computer rooms and the use of Perspex coming down out of the ceiling – evidence of the can-do attitude of teachers and education staff across the board in just getting to grips with this,” he said.

“I am very conscious that as Taoiseach of this country we owe it to the children and the young people to enable them to have a proper quality learning experience and education experience. 

I have always been deeply concerned about the loss of so much school time early in the year. 

Martin added that he wished to “pay tribute” to the teachers, SNA, the schools staffs and principals across the country “for really working quietly and effectively over the last number  of weeks to get their classrooms and schools ready”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin with Principal Jim O’Sullivan, at Nagle Secondary Community College Julien Behal Photography Julien Behal Photography

The Taoiseach stressed that pupils would be damaged if the schools failed to reopen as planned.

I think if schools don’t reopen we will be damaging children in terms of their intellectual development, their social development and in terms of their overall wellbeing. We have to balance that in terms of how we organise the school environment.

Anxiety

The Taoiseach says he understands the anxiety of parents about sending their children back to school. 

“That is why I came here this morning and that is why I keep in touch with many, both parents and in the education community to see first hand how the schools are preparing and adapting. This has to be about participation in education in a safe way,” he said.

Principal of Nagle Community College Jim O’Sullivan was keen to reassure parents of pupils in his school about the safety of their children.

“I look at my cleaners, caretakers, admin staff and all the SNA’s they have been fantastic in preparing us for reopening and I am really looking forward to it,” O’Sullivan said.

“What I am saying all the time is that we need to be calm, we need to communicate clearly with each other. If we can be be allowed go about this process in a very calm measured controlled way I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to work.” 

With reporting by Olivia Kelleher