(Ireland) Autistic son of govt official rejected by 12 schools

Sept 10, 2025, Irish Mirror: Fianna Fáil TD says her party 'not listening' on special education as her child is refused from 12 schools

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/politics/fianna-fail-td-says-party-35882222.amp 

A Fianna Fáil TD said she isn’t being listened to by her own party colleagues on special education as her autistic son was refused from 12 schools.

Deputy Catherine Ardagh shares two children with her husband Darragh McShea, who is Fianna Fáil’s assistant general secretary. They have five-year-old twin boys, Séan and Darragh Óg, who is autistic and non-verbal.

The parents began looking for a special needs class space for Darragh Óg last October, and were consistently disappointed. Speaking to Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio 1, Deputy Ardagh said her party isn’t doing enough to help these vulnerable children.

She said: "We have been in government for the past 10 years and I don’t think enough has been done, we’ve not been ambitious enough. I’m not personalising this but I’ve mentioned it to my colleagues, I will always discuss the lack of support for disability, but I’m not being listened to adequately.

"Behind a mother who is trying to advocate for their child is a child who isn’t getting the support they need from the State. The country has the funds to do this, we just need the determination."

The TD said life is the polar opposite for her two boys. Séan can get into any school, go to kids' parties and have fun with his peers, while Ms Ardagh and her husband have to fight for Darragh Óg’s rights.

She continued: "It’s like winning the lotto getting a school place, that shouldn’t be the case. It’s so easy getting Sean a school place, everything for him is so easy. His life compared to Darragh’s is so easy and it’s unfair.

"The school applications opened in October and we got rejection letter after rejection letter. You expect it, but it’s very disheartening. It’s really upsetting at the time but you still have hope that there's two or three schools to hear from."

The Fianna Fáil TD said that luckily, Darragh Óg has recently been accepted into a school that opened up applications late.

She is hoping that he will be able to start there in November or December, but has stressed that parents shouldn’t have to beg or be grateful for their child’s basic right to go to school.