No Leitrim secondary school has DEIS status, council told

The local councillor believes that some Leitrim schools are excluded from the programme despite meeting the criteria

Published 22nd Jul 2026, 12:55 BST Irene Vega The local councillor believes that some Leitrim schools are excluded from the programme despite meeting the criteria Sign up to our Leitrim Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Leitrim Live within your account.

None of County Leitrim’s seven post-primary schools has DEIS status, according to a motion discussed at last week’s meeting of Leitrim County Council.

DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) is the Department of Education’s programme aimed at addressing educational disadvantage.

Sinn Féin councillor Cormac Flynn, who is principal of Mohill Community College, asked the council to write to the Department of Education “to urgently re-examine the criteria, data analysis and methodology used in determining eligibility for DEIS for Leitrim’s post-primary schools.”

In his motion, Cllr Flynn stated: “It defies logic how 43% of Leitrim’s primary schools qualify for DEIS status but not a single secondary school in the county qualifies.”

Speaking on the motion, Cllr Flynn told the meeting that “16 out of 37 primary schools have DEIS status. Yet, despite this clear evidence of educational disadvantage, not one of Leitrim’s seven post-primary schools has DEIS status”.

“When we compare Leitrim with neighbouring counties, the disparity is obvious. In Longford, 67% of post-primary schools have DEIS status, including all ETB schools.”

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Cllr Flynn said the absence of DEIS status means Leitrim schools do not receive supports available under the programme.

“These include Home School Community Liaison Services, literacy and numeracy initiatives, free school meals and better funding for our schools.”

“Our young people and their families are, at best, let down, and at worst, failed, by a system which was designed to support them through their educational system.”

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, Cllr Flynn said the absence of DEIS status leaves those students who would benefit from the programme “enormously disenfranchised”.

He also said that around 20% of students in the county were in need of DEIS supports. He later confirmed to the Observer that this figure “refers to every school in the county” and acknowledged that 20% represented “a significant number” of students.

Cllr Flynn said DEIS supports include breakfast provision for students.

“The scheme guarantees every student the opportunity to have breakfast before school.”

He also referred to the Home School Community Liaison service.

“Liaison officers provide support for such things as family trauma and also provide education in areas such as drug addiction.”

Asked why no Leitrim post-primary school has DEIS status, Cllr Flynn said he believed one possible reason was that “a high propensity of Leitrim students traditionally attended Third Level. There wasn’t many other educational opportunities available.”

“The feeder primary schools for the secondary school in Drumkeerin are DEIS. How does it change for secondary? There is no satisfactory answer as how schools are assessed for DEIS status,” she said.

Independent councillor James Gilmartin said that “this issue is not just a matter for the Department of Education, but also Social Protection”.

“From my time as a teacher, there are real social issues involved,” he added.

Following the debate, councillors agreed that Leitrim County Council would write to the Department of Education requesting that it re-examine the criteria used to determine DEIS eligibility for post-primary schools.