Parents of pupils at St. Mary’s High School, Brollagh are “outraged” to have found out via media and social media outlets that a proposal to close the school in 2020 has been made. Following last week’s announcement by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) that they were proceeding with a proposal to close St. Mary’s High School, Brollagh in August 2020, the school’s Parents Action Group have responded stating that they “reject” the proposal and have been “incensed at the way parents and children have been treated yet again.”

A spokesman for the school’s Parents Action Group said: “Parents and children of St. Marys High School, Brollagh have learnt this week (Thursday February 21) through media outlets of the CCMS plan to proceed with another proposal of closure to our school.”

He continued: “The Action Group members have been contacted by many current parents and in-coming parents of children voicing their outrage of learning this news through media sources.

“This is the fourth occasion since 2008 the CCMS has attempted to close St. Mary’s. During the last 11 years, the CCMS have offered no positive alternative to finding a solution for retaining post-primary education in one of the most socially deprived areas in Northern Ireland.”

In a statement confirming the proceeding of the proposal to close the Fermanagh secondary school, a spokesman for CCMS said: “The first step in this process, a series of consultation events, has taken place with the governors, staff, parents and pupils of the school. The proposal by CCMS will now be subject to a statutory public consultation before a decision by the Department of Education.”

However, the Parents Action group spokesman noted that parents and pupils only found out about the proposal via media outlets. Sinn Féin MLA Jemma Dolan, a former pupil of the school, said: “This has been an ongoing campaign from the CCMS and despite their attempts, the local community has consistently come out and supported what is a very high quality school.

“I would urge the local community to come out again and support the school, as a formal consultation has to take place before a final decision is made.”