First-time Labour Candidate Ciarán Ahern pledges to support DEIS schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Monday 27th January 2020

FIRST-TIME LABOUR CANDIDATE CIARAN AHERN PLEDGES TO SUPPORT DEIS SCHOOLS

Ciarán Ahern the first-time Labour candidate for Dublin South West has said that Tallaght’s DEIS schools should receive at least a 50% increase in their capitation grants. He has also called for a guarantee that class size should be no greater than 18 pupils in DEIS secondary schools and 15 pupils in DEIS primary schools. 

According to Ahern: ‘Children and teachers in DEIS schools need more support. The Labour Party is fully behind the INTO #TimeForDEIS campaign which seeks to lower the pupil-teacher ratio in DEIS schools. The Labour Party is also committed to providing more resource teachers and counsellors to help address the profound impact of homelessness in the classroom.’

Ahern was speaking following a survey of DEIS school Principals by the Irish Examiner last week, in which a number of Principals reported that up to one quarter of pupils in their schools are homeless. Addressing that issue, he said that ‘Labour will insist on a massive state home building scheme’.  He claims they will create 80,000 social and affordable homes in an effort to curb the crisis of child and family homelessness. 

Ahern said, ‘Housing is a basic human right and an essential need. It is beyond belief that we find ourselves in this position, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Education is every child’s basic right. It is the foundation for life but there is no way that a child without a secure home can concentrate at school or fully develop their personality’. 

Ahern continued: ‘It is outrageous that Fine Gael have given away so much of the taxpayers’ money in profit to private landlords rather than building homes.  I am heartbroken at the position we are putting our children in, and at the torment that parents and teachers are going through in some parts of Dublin South West. I am running for the Dáil to help change this.’

Campaign Launch

Ahern launched his General Election campaign at The Spawell, Templeogue last Thursday night, 23rd January. Speaking on the evening, he said that he decided to run for election because ‘I grew up in a house where my mum was a teacher in St Mark’s in Tallaght and my dad was a youth worker. That we would involve ourselves in public service was taken for granted in my family home.’ His mother, Mary Ahern, taught French and Irish at St Mark’s Community School for over 30 years. 

Ahern added: ‘I didn’t lick my socialist and environmental leanings off a stone. Social justice and sustainability are not recent fads in the Ahern household.  Through my parents’ work and community volunteering I learned very early on that I am very fortunate and have responsibilities to others that go way beyond myself.’

ENDS

Notes to Editors

See the Irish Examiner report here: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/rise-in-pupils-without-proper-homes-976929.html 

Contact: Ciarán Ahern at 087 967 1854 or ciaranaherndsw@gmail.com