By Vivienne Clarke
Two primary schools in counties Mayo and Laois have closed early for the Christmas holidays due to concerns about Covid-19 outbreaks in the community.
Holy Family Senior School in Portlaoise will close from Friday, with education continuing online.
The school said it was working with the HSE and recognised the need to close onsite.
Claremorris Boys National School in Co Mayo will also close from Friday until January 5th, with the board of management saying it was the only practical way to help prevent further elevation and spread of Covid-19 in the community.
The principal, Mark Loftus, defended the decision and said the idea of keeping schools open at all costs was not acceptable.
“We were left with no alternative. We are trying to be both reactive and proactive,” he told RTÉ.
Mr Loftus said the school has 125 pupils divided into five classes, two of which had to be sent home because of a number of cases diagnosed recently.
In the past three weeks since the first case was discovered the two classes had to go into lockdown because of subsequent cases and their close and casual contacts, he explained.
A further two cases were confirmed by parents on Thursday at which stage Mr Loftus contacted public health officials and asked that the school be closed, however the public health officials were not willing to do so, he said.
Mr Loftus said that he felt he was left with no alternative but to close the school to minimise the spread of Covid-19 in the school community and to allay the fears among parents, teachers and pupils.
'Stressful time'
This was “an exceptionally stressful time” he added. It had been unrealistic to expect schools to stay open “at all costs”. Children had been asking why it was necessary to have windows open in the middle of winter.
Mr Loftus said he had hoped that the Department of Education and public health officials would be supportive of his decision. But they had wanted see evidence of cross contamination.
“From our perspective we were very aware of the anxiety levels at home and among the pupils.”
The principal said he knew families wanted to have a safe Christmas and some were concerned about older or vulnerable family members. “We felt it was the right decision to make. We were left with no alternative.”
The school's board of management said in a statement that it was deeply frustrated at the system adopted by public health officals and the Department of Education, and acknowledged the inconvenience the closure places on parents and pupils.
