Appearance on RTE Radio's Spirit Moves Programme

Aodhán's appearance on RTE Radio One Spirit Moves Programme. Click here to listen: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/spiritmoves/1231937.html

Attendance Legislation Limits School Capacity to Intervene at Earliest Stages of Neglect

With Irish society still reeling with the full disclosure of the disturbing details of the Roscommon incest and child abuse case, it is imperative now that we close all loopholes that limit the states capacity to react to suspicions of neglect for the benefit of all our children.

One such legislative barrier is the provision within the 2000 Education Welfare Act which states that the functions of the National Educational Welfare Board are limited to children between the ages of six and sixteen. Crucially there is no statutory requirement for children to be enrolled in school before the age of six, which in effect means that teachers, principals and NEWB officers are powerless to intervene in a case of chronic absenteeism of a child who is enrolled in a school under that age. At that most important developmental stage in a child's education, the infant years, the NEWB has no statutory grounds to intervene in a case of serious absenteeism which many educators point to as an indication of child neglect.

It is clear now that this legislation must be amended to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled in a school that the powers afforded to the NEWB under the Educational Welfare act can be enforced, regardless of the child's age. Such a change would ensure that those in the school community and those charged with the responsibility of monitoring school attendance can make the maximum difference at the earliest opportunity.

'St Josephs Centre for Visually Impaired' Forced to Sell Land to Finance School Building Costs after Government Betrayal

At a meeting staged today, the St Joseph's Centre for the Visually Impaired outlined plans to the local community to redevelop part of their campus in order to finance the rebuilding of their facilities, which are in dire need of repair.

Despite the fact that St Joseph's serves some of the most vulnerable children in the state, the Department of Education have repeatedly frustrated the management board's attempts to redevelop the schools and have now been forced to prostitute themselves to the property market in order to provide the kind of service that they feel their students deserve.

It is proposed that a seven-acre site within the campus will be re-developed to house 7 blocks of 362 apartments ranging in height from four to eight storeys. It is hoped that this development will fund the school building costs of approximately €35million - only €15 million of which was provisionally promised by the Department of Education five years ago with no firm commitment.

It is an absolute scandal that some of the most needy children in the country cannot have their needs directly met by the state. What message does it send to the families of those suffering from a visual impairment when this excellent educational facility is forced to gamble in the property market to secure the future of the centre. The services offered by St Joseph's are remarkable, considering their limited resources:
Assessment Service
Preschool and Early Intervention
Primary and Secondary Education
Vocational Training
Family Resource Centre
National Braille Production Centre
Training and Research Department
Ophthalmology Clinic
Occupational Therapy
Speech and Language Therapy
Physiotherapy
Residential Service
Library and Information Service
I am calling on the Minister for Education to immediately meet with the trustees and Board of Management of St Joseph's Centre for the Visually Impaired and to commit to the funding needed to help those children who cannot help themselves. The measure of a civilised society is how we serve the needs of our most vulnerable. In this case it is quite clear that the Department of Education have acted in a most uncivilised fashion.

Clontarf Shooting Shows that Gun is Beginning to Rule the Streets

The shots fired today at the junction of Vernon Ave and the Clontarf Road in an attempted raid on a Brinks Allied van show quite clearly that the rule of the gun is gradually taking over on the streets of Dublin.

Following the Dublin shooting in Summerhill earlier this month and another fatal shooting in Tallaght this morning, it is quite clear that there is no sign of a decrease in the gun culture that threatens the very stability of our democracy. While all eyes have been securely fixed on the crisis in the banking system, the continuing use of guns to exact revenge and a perverse form of justice on our streets must remains a matter of utmost concern to the government.

It is clear now that an entirely new approach is needed with improved resources for the Gardai coupled with an increased focus on education along the lines of what the late Tony Gregory always advocated. Are we now facing another year of blood drained streets or will the government stand by those public servants who are our only hope in tackling this creeping evil?

Cllr O Riordain's appearance on Primetime

Click here to see my appearance on Primetime discussing the shooting in East Wall last Sunday.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1209/primetime_av.html?2460989,null,230

Batt O'Keefe's Solution to Language Teacher Cuts a Cynical Ploy to Benefit Local Fianna Fáil TDs

Batt O'Keefe's contention that the loss of Language Support Teachers is to be assessed on a case by case basis, is a cynical ploy to benefit Fianna Fail TDs in the face of rising anger over education cuts.

It is now clear that the Minister's plan is to cut the numbers of Language Support Teachers in schools to a maximum of two, but he is allowing wriggle-room to ensure that successful lobbying can take place on behalf of Fianna Fáil TDs. The government keeps its cuts in place, while the local TD is seen to have made a difference by retaining at least one of the posts lost. Politics is much more important to Fianna Fáil that education, children or Ireland's future.

This latest attempt to con the public who are desperately seeking to overturn the cutbacks, is appalling but unsurprising. If the minister was genuine, then a hard and fast rule would be made in all cases. Allowing bargaining to take place to ease the pressure on local representatives just shows what a new low that the government have sunk to.

Labour Launches Right to Read Campaign as Central Plank of Local Election Campaign

Address to Labour Party Conference

1pm on Saturday Nov 29th

Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to announce the launch of the Right to Read Campaign as a Labour Party Campaign. It is now a key part of our campaign for the Local Elections in 2009.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our Education Spokesperson Ruairi Quinn and all other public representatives and members of the Labour Party who have supported the Right to Read Campaign from its inception.

Friends, we know that poverty is a thief. It steals childhoods, its steals happiness, its steals hope and it steals dreams. But we also know that the key to ending poverty is education and that literacy – being able to read – Is crucial in this regard. If our children are to have any chance at all we must give them the ability to read.

So why then in disadvantaged areas do over 30% of children have basic reading problems?
Why are almost a quarter of our adult population functionally illiterate?
Why are most of our young offenders unable to read their charge sheets, or in some cases, only able to sign their names with an 'x'?

The answer in part, lies with the education system. But children do not live in schools. Children live in communities, and it is our responsibility as public representatives, as councillors, as Labour members and as citizens to provide our communities with the power to end educational disadvantage and to help eradicate illiteracy. This is what the Right to Read Campaign is all about.

The Right to Read Campaign is a pragmatic, realistic and positive community response to our poor literacy rates.
We demand longer opening hours for libraries. A library should be a place of learning where young parents can get help so that they have the skill to read to their children.
We want homework clubs to be established in every community centre, in every library, in every council estate and flat complex to ensure that learning is delivered not just in the classroom but in the community.
We want decent housing standards, so that children have the space to learn in the home and to facilitate family learning.

It is to our Local authorities that we turn to, to make these changes. They must accept that they can make a positive difference in the lives of our children and that indeed that they are morally obliged to do so.

I am asking you all to log onto righttoread.ie and to lodge your support for what the Right to Read Campaign promises. I am asking each councillor, each candidate, each member and each voter to demand that every child be given the opportunity to read, yes in school, but also at home and in their own communities. We cannot wait for national government to make the changes in the education system that will give every child the chance to realise their potential. We all must use whatever influence we have to give hope to our children and their families so that they may be free from the fear that poverty will steal everything from them.

We have the power to make the difference at a local level. It's time to end disadvantage in our communities, it's time to eradicate illiteracy, it's time to give all our children the right to read.

Thank you.