County Tyrone school closure plans withdrawn
Community campaigners in Fivemiletown have mounted a successful battle to save St Mary's Primary School.
The County Tyrone school was earmarked for closure in August 2023 by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).
The CCMS have said the school is not sustainable citing an independent review which found there are too many non-viable small schools in Northern Ireland.
Despite the proposed closure, the number of pupils at St Mary's has almost doubled over the last five years which campaigners say speaks to need in the community.
The decision to discontinue the school was met with strong opposition, including a legal challenge.
Campaigners were granted permission in court to challenge plans for the school's closure and seek a judicial review into how the proposal was handled.
A CCMS committee met in late December to consider the court judgement in relation to the judicial review.
A decision was made to withdraw the proposal to close St Mary's before the legal challenge concluded.
After months of campaigning, supporters were delighted to receive the news.
Chair of the Board of Governors, Mairaid Kelly said: "This is a small, rural community who pulled together in opposition to what was always a flawed proposal that failed to properly apply educational policy, and we won.
Ms Kelly said hundreds of people marched through the streets and a petition to save the school collected almost 10,000 signatures.
She added: "Our school is going from strength to strength, our children are thriving and we hope the removal of this threat will help to increase confidence in our school to enable us to grow and remain as a vital part of this community.
"We look forward to welcoming more families to our school in September.”
The campaign to save St Mary's garnered cross-community political support.
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew described St Mary's as a "small and vibrant school".
He said: “This is a huge and significant victory for the people of Fivemiletown, and indeed all small rural communities who are fighting for the retention of their services
The DUP's Deborah Erskine MLA said: “I am so pleased for the whole of Fivemiletown that St Mary’s Primary School will continue to be part of our community.
"The people of Fivemiletown were united in their opposition to this proposal to close this valued rural school, and this decision is a vindication of all of their efforts.
"It is testament to the people of this community who worked together to protect and support each other that they have been successful.”
Reflecting on the campaign, Ms Kelly concluded: “We will be focusing on sustaining our school and doing whatever we can to ensure those voices of small, rural schools are listened to in future.”
A spokesperson for the CCMS stated that whilst the current proposal to close St Mary’s Primary School had been withdrawn, it remains the case that the school is not sustainable. “CCMS will continue to work with the school community to review how thesustainability challenges can be addressed going forward”, they added.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.