The preliminary agenda for the annual conference of the Teachers Union of Ireland has been released, and with it, a list of motions that the Union is set to debate when it gathers for that conference later this spring. Top of the agenda is motion 177, introduced by the Dublin branch of the TUI, which […]
“I feel a great disturbance in the force. As if a hundred thousand teachers all cried out in anguish at once, and were suddenly silenced:” Nphet will consider making it mandatory for primary school children to wear face masks. Deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said the formal advice is that children under 13 can […]
Gript has spoken to a number of parents who say that their children were sent home from school yesterday after the parents failed to fill in a “back to school” form provided by the HSE which asked parents to certify that their children were free of infectious diseases. The form asks parents to declare that […]
There’s only really one question to ask here, about this tweet last night from Zero-Covid advocate (and, you’ll remember, advocate of looking for ways to increase anxiety and insecurity in the population) Professor Anthony Staines: Has….. has he ever actually met a six year old? Let's also bring in the wearing of masks in primary […]
Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has called for the Government to enhance Covid-19 measures in Special Education Schools to facilitate these schools returning for the students who need them. He said that a survey of childcare professionals revealed that 74% of them saw regression in children with special needs during the lockdowns. After […]
Josepha Madigan has come under fire for the second time after making what were deemed to be unacceptable remarks about children with special needs. In fact, no sooner had she read an apology for one misstatement into the Dáil, than she had to make a second for another claim which equally appalled the already hard-pressed […]
“Some of you are waiting with baited breath, for that favourite media phrase, the u-turn”, drawled Margaret Thatcher to the Tory party conference, at the height of her first-term unpopularity. “Well, you turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning”. The most prominent lady in the Irish Government, however, very much is for […]
At approximately this time yesterday morning, the question of “what to do about the schools” was remarkably uncontroversial, as these things go. In the face of an explosion in the number of cases, hospital admissions, and ICU admissions on foot of covid, the country had basically made peace with the fact that schools would not […]
Barring some extraordinary reversal of the mood music in recent days, the Government will formally decide later today to close primary and secondary schools across Ireland until at least the end of January. The earliest possible date for school re-opening, then, is Monday February 1st. This would mean that three and a half weeks (including […]
Last week, we published a story about mounting concerns amongst teachers that the Government’s public spin about the safety of schools is not matched by the realities on the ground. Teachers across the country told us, here at Gript, that they felt that there is a concerted effort by the authorities to artificially depress the […]
As the country moves into level 5 restrictions once again, the rules are clear for everybody: Shops and businesses are closing. The Dáil continues to sit in the National Convention Centre, so that they can socially distance. Mass is too dangerous to be said. Going further than five kilometres from your own home is to […]
Schools in Northern Ireland will close for two weeks from Friday under a new “circuit breaker” lockdown to be announced by First Minister Arlene Foster today. The closure of schools is part of a range of new restrictions that the Northern Irish Government is introducing: Here it is: I've obtained a copy of the new […]