Taoiseach hails 'great community ethos' of Longford's St Christopher's

On the crisp December morning local political representatives, staff and service users from the school gathered outside awaiting the arrival of An Taoiseach’s entourage. After the two black limousines pulled up Deputy Joe Flaherty guided his party leader past the Garda security detail to the new education centre.

Taoiseach Martin's visit commenced with an abundance of handshakes with service users. With the preliminaries completed he was taken on a tour of the facility by members of the Board of Management and Principal Sheila Dinnegan.

St Christopher's have reason to be proud of the state-of-the-art facilities that assist in the delivery of educational excellence to pupils with moderate general learning disability, severe or profound general learning disability, and pupils with autistic spectrum disorder.

In the last number of years work behind the scenes sees the delivery of an extension and the renovation of the existing school, which required the partial demolition of a section of the school to accommodate new offices and the upgrading of the existing buildings.

In his address, the Taoiseach complemented all who made the project possible: “This new facility indicates the increased investment in education facilities we are witnessing over the last number of years.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin commended the Boards of Management, past and present, on their commitment to the school's development. The Taoiseach said he visited St Christopher's many times down the years as Health Minister, Education Minister and leader of the opposition.

He spoke of “the great warmth” of the school and the “great community ethos” adding: “The spirit of care and commitment to fulfilling the child's potential is the hallmark of the school.”

The Taoiseach said it was important to recognise the pro bono work undertaken by the Board of Management.

Principal Sheila Dinnegan outlined the evolution of the school from the humble beginnings in 1964.

Ms Dinnegan paid tribute to the founding members, parents and friends who got together as a voluntary organisation and went on to set up a special school: “This was a daunting and difficult task.”

The Principal said the contribution of Esme McCord and Mel Donolon were instrumental in the progress of St Christopher's over the years.

The Chairperson of the Board of Management, Jacinta Brady, spoke of the request to fill the void left with the passing of Eugene McGee: “Three years ago I got a phone call from Principal Sheila Dinnegan to inform me of the sad passing of Eugene.
“She asked me to take on the role in a temporary capacity until the realisation of the new build came to fruition.”

Ms Brady said the former chair “left big shoes to fill”, but she accepted the “great honour”.

The BoM chair said: “A lot of work has been done to bring this dream to reality, from masks to Zoom meetings it has been quite a journey. I must thank my fellow board members for all their hard work and of course the staff who are so accommodating, particularly in putting the children first. We must also thank the parents for their support.”

The Taoiseach received a presentation of artwork from Barbra Stachowska created by her students at St Christopher's.