A New Republic, Corish's vision, its time has come again.

Fair play to former Mayor of Wexford, Helen Corish Wylde. When she organises something, she doesn’t do half measures. Saturday afternoon in Wexford library was a full on for anyone with an interest in politics. A century ago, Brendan Corish was born. We are in the period when centenaries are being marked. Who better than Corish to deserve the honour?

A number of speakers from family and politics gave rare insights into Corish, the man and politician who was loved by the people among who he grew up among for his humility, decency and passion. If he hadn’t been a politician he may well have carved out a career on the stage.
About 100 people from across the political divide, across the country along with family and Brendan's widow Phylis reflected on a career, its challenges and how Ireland could have been transformed.

But he was no shrinking violet. He was in government in difficult times. A recession caused by the 1973 Arab Israeli war while north of the border the troubles threatened to tear apart our state. At a time when politicians regularly receive abuse it’s timely to recall that Corish had his house picketed and his dog poisoned. Armed gardaí were a regular feature along the corridors of his ministerial office. If that wasn’t enough he had to tell his sons that if they were kidnapped the government had already decreed that there would be no deal done to secure their release. Helen and Brendan’s son Richard gave a good personal insight into how Corish preferred nothing other than to be home in Wexford with his beloved Phylis, have a flutter on a horse and small one.

Barry Desmond gave a really valuable insight into the internal divisions of the Labour Party at the time. Divisions around personality, approach to the North but also based on union affiliation of Labour TD’s. Desmond was employed by ITGWU as a researcher. Now in his mid 80’s you can still hear his researchers mind click into gear as he rattles off about Jimmy Tully (always at his desk in the Customs House by 7AM) Michael O’Leary (Dismissed by some unions but who gave us the Unfair Dismissals act and legislated for equality) and Cluskey who ensured that children’s allowance was paid to the mother. Each character vividly described and flesh put on the bones by Barry.

Tony Browne gave a great insight into social welfare where ITGWU had a coalition with FWUI in the form of Corish and Cluskey! Brendan Halligan couldn’t attend put his paper was read by Jack McGinley. It analysed the oft derided speech where Corish gave his assessment at how Ireland had failed when it came to providing an education for its children, failed in health care provision, failed in providing jobs and where emigration was a way of life. Corish said that the market had failed and that private sector could not deliver for the public. That’s why he called for a New Republic saying the Seventies would be socialist.

Of course it didn’t turn out like that as the economy nose dived while the state had to consider the possible implosion had the troubles in the north deteriorated further. The speech was carefully crafted and he wore his colours with pride, caring little about the inevitable disparagement it would give rise to. Brendan Howlin took up this theme in his closing contribution. Labour’s recent conference had the slogan A New Republic. The challenge now to Labour is the same challenge that met us 50 years ago. This was first coined by Corish 50 years ago. Corish opposed inequality, being the first minister to meet with the gay community. His own personal views were that a person’s life is a matter for themselves. He was personally a churchgoer but not fervent. Corish faced a huge demand for housing so he went to Richie Ryan in the Department of Finance and they found the money to provide it. Corish opposed discrimination against women, wanted to provide jobs and a future across the country.

Brendan Howlin quoted Corish from 1967 "There is serious doubt and concern about our present rate of progress. It is widely believed that we are unable to solve any of the major problems confronting us. Disquiet and apathy, cynicism and indifference are not healthy attitudes in a democracy, but they are widely prevalent in ours. While conservatives argue that we are better off without change, progressives argue that we can change things for the better."  In half a century, very little has changed.

One final story about Brendan Corish. Late one night he got a knock on the door when he was a minister. A man enters the house and is ushered into the sitting room. The man introduces himself to Corish as he isn’t one of his supporters. “I’ve a very serious and delicate problem to discuss with you. I normally vote for Sir Anthony Esmonde (FG) however he’s a gentleman and I couldn’t disturb him at this time of night about this matter”.

There’s many a Labour stalwart who had similar experiences. That says something about the type of party Labour is and why a New Republic is now more important than ever before

A dog's life

Getting a dog was the most furthest thing on my mind when Therese recently passed me the laptop and said “Would you look at that?”. She was on donedeal. There in the middle of the puppies for sale in the run up to Christmas was Rusty. Sitting forlorn with straw in the drinking bowl in the middle of bleak looking farmers shed was a sheep dog.

If there is one thing I have enormous issues with it is the use of websites at this time of year to sell pets for Christmas.  The Late Late Show on Friday night gave one insight to where some of the supply to meet this demand comes from; puppy farms. There are other ways to get a dog. You’d be amazed at the number of people who have got dogs from WSPCA. Often it’s a case of a dog who has been abused, taken into care and is looking for a home. Not all dogs are lucky, but that’s another story.

However Rusty wasn’t for sale, he was free. If you want to sell something you put up a picture that draws the buyer in. I emailed the owner and was told he’d been on the site for weeks and there were only one or two offers for him. Not surprising  then that when placed alongside dogs worth hundreds of euro there was little interest.

And so it was that on Bank Holiday Monday last we ended up not too far from Lough Corrib in the farmers shed. At first I was apprehensive. When we entered the shed he was curled up in a ball on the floor and hardly raised his head when his owner called his name. I was fearful as the dog was larger than I expected that he might snap at me. We put the lead on his collar and coaxed him out into the yard.

He sat in front of me and I petted him for a minute and talked with the owner. His story was that Rusty was owned by a cousin of his who had been left a farm locally. He had returned from England to work the farm with his family with great plans. Rusty was going to be the sheepdog to work the farm. It didn’t work out, his family didn’t settle. They went back with the notion that when the kids were older he’d be back. In the meantime, can you get a good owner for Rusty?  The farmer didn’t have sheep and was simply raising calves. He’d no use for him and aged 3 an early retirement for Rusty was on the cards, if he was lucky. His eyesight is not the best either.

I stood up and took a step back from him so as to get a better look at him. Imagine my surprise when Rusty stood the step in my direction that I had stood back. Seemingly, I wasn’t going to get away too easily. Therese smiled. She knew we’d clicked.

So into the car with him and off we went home. He stank out the car, his hair was matted and he panted. Somewhere on the M6 we asked one another, “What were we taking on?”. He was undeweight, he stank and his coat was matted. He'd been sleeping in his own dirt and panted in the car as he seemed to be thirsty.

Rusty arrived home at teatime, showered and fed. Our own pair of dogs took to him quickly. First thing the next day he was brought to the vet who discovered he was running a temperature. A long lasting antibiotic did the trick. By the end of the week he was vaccinated, microchipped and licensed.

This week he was neutered and continues to settle in well. He’s a gently giant who belatedly is getting a go at life. His days of working on a farm are in the past. With strength like his, he’d be at home in a team of huskies.

With Christmas on the horizon, the production line that is puppy farming is already gearing up. Before you click on a pretty photo, ask yourself is there a dog needing a life or are you looking to buy a canine accessory?

Looking for a school place at second level? Read this!

It’s hardly that time of year again, is it? The evenings are closing in. As the kids go up the stairs at night, it’s time for parents to ask themselves, What school will offer a place to their 6^th class child?

Every year it is the same. It used to be worst, not that that is any compensation to parents. One school on Wexford used to have a sleep over outside its gates so as to get an application form. I slept out under the stars in circumstances reminiscent of a 1980’s queue for tickets to Slane!

The days when we sat entrance exams to see who could go to secondary school or not are also long gone. Schools cannot select a pupil based solely on their academic ability. My own Dad was a primary school principal who used to enter me each Saturday in entrance exams when I was in 6^th class. Because I was his son, he reckoned I’d be offered a place. He would subsequently use that offer to barter to ensure another pupil could progress to second level. That was how it was done in the day when the school leaving age was 14 and a school did not have to make any offer. Thankfully that’s behind us.

However many parents are unclear as to how the system operates. So here’s a brief guide as to how it works in Wexford.  Second level schools require any parent hoping to send a child to their school to apply using their application form. It should be completed setting out basic information that is needed to determine a child’s eligibility and any other learning difficulties or health issues that the school may reasonably be expected to know if they are to act in loco parentis.

The school can charge to process the application and usually this charge is offset against the voluntary contribution should the parents accept a place for their child in that school. The school will send a receipt for the money and acknowledge the application. Different schools have different cut off dates after which applications are not accepted.

In Wexford each October schools will be processing these applications with a view to making offers of places in early November. Each school is run by a patron. Each patron will advise their school as to how to offer places that is robust and stands up under legal scrutiny.

Schools are entitled to prioritise certain applicants for places. If the applicant has a sibling in the school or one who is a past pupil, if they are the child of a past pupil (this criteria still remains despite Labour putting in place the provision to remove it) or the child of an employee or member of the board of management, they are entitled to a place. After the closing date the applications are assessed and any applicants classified under these headings are selected for an offer of a place.

Every other applicant is then allocated a number regardless of when they applied and they are put into an open draw for the remaining places.

So if a school has 200 applicants for 80 places and 20 applicants have a right to a place, the remaining 180 are put into a draw for the remaining 60 places. Each number is drawn out in sequence in the presence of an independent witness. The first 60 will be offered the remaining places and the balance (120) will be placed on a waiting list based on the position they were in the draw. So position 61 means that you are 1^st on the waiting list, position 101 means you are 40^th on the waiting list.

Schools then write to all parents setting out for each child their position. And that’s when the process starts to drag. In reality my own school would have upwards of 250 applicants each year for about 100-110 places, St Peters would have slightly more. Presentation and Loreto have about 130-150 places each, Selskar College has an intake of about 50.

Some parents get an offer and accept straight away. Great! That is always my advice to any parent. Then there are people who get an offer from school A but really want school B where they are on the waiting list. More live outside the town and won’t accept an offer from a local school which will offer places slightly later anyway. Some people get no offer at all and are on 2 waiting lists.

An appeal can only be lodged where a decision not to admit has been made. My advice to each parent is simple. If you don’t get the offer in a school you wish to go to, ring, write or email to say that you want your child retained on the waiting list and that you are offered a place should one become available. Slowly parents make decisions but as you go past Christmas, naturally some parents get anxious, especially if they have one child.

If like myself you and your spouse have no connection to the applicant school it’s irrelevant where you come from. You are relying on the open draw for a place for your child and you may have to tough it out. It’s one thing that I have some sympathy for mangers in schools operating this system. Some parents do sit on 2 offers hoping to pick and choose in their own time. That’s unfair to other applicants.

What is a reality is that the advice from patrons to the school is so robust that it withstands challenge at appeal. I used to be a great believer in encouraging an appeal. Now I see it otherwise as it can raise false hope.  It might work if something was overlooked in the processing stage. It may be the failure to find within a reasonable distance another school that will provide for a child’s special educational needs. In other words, if a school specialises in high end of the spectrum in Asperger’s Syndrome and the applicant was not offered a place and no other school provided what the pupil need, that might be a reasonable grounds to lodge an appeal.

However, I’ve never seen a challenge to a decision in Wexford citing grounds of religion, ethnic or sexual orientation or desire for a school ethos. If the grounds are that a child was offered a place in a school different to where the friends are going, it is not going to succeed.  Neither is a challenge based on a school being the sole provider of a subject.

Appeals sometimes do work. A number of years ago in Cork a boys school was obliged on appeal to offer a place to a girl because they never specified it was a boys only school.  I often wonder how that pupil coped in a classroom in an all male environment from the age of 12 onwards.

In some cases it will be May or June before the intake for September is determined. In one case I got to hear about a parent who got a job offer in another part of Ireland and who moved freeing up a place in July.  Needless to say, someone else got a nice surprise offer of a late place afterwards. Nothing is certain in a school till I come back in September and see who is before me in my class. It’s a hard slog for parents, it’s an uncertain time for parents but hang in there.

There are some parents who don’t get a place in Wexford and who may secure a place in either Bridgetown, Enniscorthy or New Ross. Here’s the irony, they may well pass on the road each day a parent from one of those areas driving their child to a school in Wexford. At first glance there’s something unfair about that but it’s not the schools call.  The Department of Education decide what is built where and when. They may well point to the in their mind sufficient places within the county and not wish to increase either staff or capacity even temporarily.

It’s a system, it’s not perfect, and they aren’t going to change it in the near future. Best of luck wherever your child ends up for the next 5-6 years.