(Ireland) Dublin: 500 protesters demand special needs places in school

June 7, 2025, RTE: Hundreds protest over school places for children with additional needs 

Around 500 people have protested in Dublin about the lack of school places this September for children with additional needs.

Parents, extended family members and children gathered at the Garden of Remembrance before walking down the city centre's O'Connell Street towards Leinster House.

Protester Rachel Lowry said her five-year-old daughter Lucy has been offered a place in an autism class for September.

However, that class is not in the same school across the road from the family home as Lucy's 10-year-old sister, who also has additional needs.

Ms Lowry said she is not confident Lucy will be in the class by September because the classroom, which is outside the family's catchment area, has not been built yet.

She said this is an ongoing problem that the Government has failed to fix, adding that her message to the Government is: "Do more. Do more for our children. Our children are different. They do not deserve less and they deserve everything that every other child has."

Protesters walked to Leinster House . . .

In a statement to RTÉ News, the Department of Education said a significant body of work is being undertaken to ensure every child has a school place that meets their needs.

It said that since 2019, over 2,000 new special classes have been created in mainstream schools and 16 new special schools have been established.

The Department also said there will be over 3,700 special classes and 129 special schools in operation throughout the country from the next academic term.

It added that new measures announced by Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee last week include better forward planning for the provision of places.

Those measures include a shortened timeline - by four months - for the planning of the requirement for the NCSE (National Council for Special Education) to be notified by those seeking a special class or placement for a child in September 2026.. . .