Last minute intervention keeps special school classes running full-time

Following government intervention spurred by a parent campaign, An Cosán Community Special School in Dublin 7 is re-opening for all students today after staffing shortages had threatened a reduced timetable

Add to preferred sources News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 12:26, 06 Oct 2026 View Image An Cosán Community Special School in Dublin 7 (Image: Google Maps)

Parents can breathe a sigh of relief as An Cosán Community Special School in Dublin 7 will re-open for all students today.

Equality in Education Dublin North West expressed outrage over the weekend as parents were informed of a significantly reduced school timetable that would have been pupils missing out on multiple school days per week. On Sunday afternoon, parents were informed that, from the coming week, junior pupils would attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays only, while senior pupils would attend from Wednesday to Friday.

A strong and vocal campaign of parents and public reps immediately emerged and called on the Department of Education to intervene and address a severe staffing shortage that meant the school could no longer ensure a safe school day for all students. The school explained that it is awaiting the recruitment of three teachers, three Special Needs Assistants, and replacements for two SNAs on long-term leave. A further four staff members are currently absent due to illness or injury.

When contacted by Dublin Live, the Department confirmed that they, along with the National Council For Special Education, met with the school patron body yesterday to address the situation. “The school patron body and school have worked intensively during the day to ensure that the school will re-open for all students tomorrow (Tuesday). The Department understands that this has been communicated now to parents,” a spokesperson for the Department of Education said.

The news was welcomed by Equality in Education Dublin North West co-founder and People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy who described the fast resolution as a “vindication of the efforts of parents”. He said that parents should have never found themselves in this situation, but “the noise made locally” ensured the situation was taken seriously.

“That people's power was stirred up. I believe that got this situation sorted before it really bit,” he said

Prior to the Government intervention, Greg Lewis, co-founder of Equality in Education Dublin North West, spoke out about the impact the closure would have on parents. As an SNA and father of 15-year-old An Cosán pupil Sam, his family was directly affected by the closure.

“To receive an email at 3pm on a Sunday telling us that our children will only be attending school two or three days a week is totally unacceptable. How are families supposed to plan their lives around notices like this?” he said on Monday.

“So many parents, ourselves included, will now have to take time off work, rearrange commitments and somehow find a way to make this work. It is going to be an enormous challenge for families who are already under huge pressure.

“But most importantly, this is completely unfair on our children. Sam and every other child in that school deserve a full education, just like their peers in mainstream schools. They should not have to sacrifice their education because the Government cannot ensure that schools have enough staff."

Cllr Reddy too blasted the Government for continually failing children with additional needs . “We are barely removed from the Virgin Media documentary by Eric Roberts exposing the crisis inside our special education system, and we're now being reminded just how deep that crisis runs,” he stated.

“Schools are under enormous pressure just to function at the most basic level. The fact that a school cannot operate safely because it does not have enough teachers and SNAs should be a national scandal.

“The Government has consistently failed to give children with additional educational needs the same priority as their peers in mainstream education. These children have just as much right to a full school week, to a proper education and to the support they need to thrive."

Cllr Reddy has now welcomed the resolution but stressed “it is disgraceful” that the situation emerged in the first place and that parents and schools should not have to worry about safe staffing levels. “We have a record budget surplus expected this year, huge amounts of money in the country, so there’s obviously no excuse for failing children with additional educational needs and the failure of course is a national failure,” he said.

“It’s not just a failure of children in An Cosán, we know of loads of children without school places in Dublin North West across the country and that’s on top of the children who are struggling to get access to assessment of needs and children who are struggling to get access to therapy .”

He described the full time re-opening of An Cosán as a success but stressed that there is a larger movement to ensure access to education for every child. “We need to keep the energy up and get behind the parents of children with additional needs, and the children themselves who are the most important part in all of this.”

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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