The principal of one Waterford school says they will be including gender-neutral toilets as part of a new multi-million euro extension.
New government guidelines are allowing schools to choose if they want to construct gender-neutral facilities, as well as the traditional separate ones for boys and girls.
Blackwater Community College in Lismore have announced that they are to double the size of their school with a €14 million extension.
Principal, Denis Ring told Déise Today that a choice of toilet facilities will be included:
"We will have gender-neutral toilets factored into it. And to be honest with you, a lot of that would have originated from conversations that would have developed from our Diversity Lounge grouping.
"We have a Diversity Lounge whereby we have students who are straight or who are gay and teachers facilitate meetings and discussions.
"The Diversity Lounge has been extremely beneficial and helpful, and very supportive of students."
Continuing, Mr Ring said it was important that choice be introduced for those students who want it:
"We will have situations where toilets will be exclusively for males, exclusively for females, and then gender-neutral.
"We have to try and ensure that anyone that comes through the door, that they are comfortable in their environment.
"To be fair like, there's nothing new in this. I know we have past pupils in Trinity who I've been on to consulting with them as to how it's operating there, and a lot of third level institutions at the moment are way ahead of the game regarding this."
Michael O'Sullivan is principal of St Augustine's College in Dungarvan, where an extension is also being added.
He says they will certainly be including a gender-neutral toilet option as well for their students.
Speaking on Déise Today, Mr O'Sullivan said it only makes sense to do so:
"To be honest, I don't think it's complex at all. I mean, we're in a lucky position where we will be building on quite a sizeable extension and it's great to have the opportunity of choice. But choice is for everyone.
"Schools have to reflect society and what's happening there and in anything that we build new, it only makes sense to future-proof everything.
"I mean, for us it's great to have common toilet areas, but still choice; meaning the choice of a single-sex toilet, but also toilets that are mixed gender."
Changes have been introduced to construction and refurbishment guidelines from the Department of Education.
The Irish Times reports that most future facilities will also include self-contained cubicles with their own doors and communal access to sinks.
The illustrations provided in the official design guide show boys and girls accessing the shared facilities.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said it will be the choice of individual schools if facilities are gender-neutral or categorised as male or female.
However, the school design guide also states that a standalone “unisex” cubicle should be provided close to every toilet block, with separate access from the main toilets.
Bullying
The department said the design of new school sanitary facilities aimed to facilitate “all users regardless of ability or disability, to minimise the risk of bullying and to minimise the consumption of water, energy and other consumables”.
It added it was aware that toilets may be the scene of bullying and the new design – where shared washbasins are visible from the corridor outside – provides for “passive supervision” of these spaces.
“The safety of the pupils must be balanced against the individual dignity and privacy requirements in sanitary facilities,” it said.
The school design guide says the new layout follows an extensive review of recently built schools and international best practice.
It also states that separate staff or visitor sanitary facilities should be provided close to the main entrance.
Reaction
The new guidelines have drawn a mixed response from the wider school community.
Principal of Limerick’s Educate Together Secondary School, Eoin Shinners, said it was an inclusive step, with his school’s new building set to include gender neutral toilets after consultation with students, parents and the board of management.
“It’s reflective of how society is nowadays and we’re very welcoming of it. There is a mind-shift involved for many people,” he said.
“We see it as an inclusive measure. Students will still have a choice to use other standalone toilets if they feel in any way uncomfortable.”
However, some campaigners who are opposed to gender recognition legislation say the move will leave girls feeling unsafe.
Laoise Uí Aodha de Brún said evidence from the UK suggested that some girls were missing school instead of facing “period shaming” from boys. She accused authorities of scrapping single sex toilets without consultation.
