The under threat St. Mary’s Primary School in Fivemiletown has secured “the largest petition on record” against a primary school closure, with more than 8,950 signatures opposing the closure recently sent to the Department of Education.

Following this outpouring of public support, the school community now awaits the news whether its significant opposition to the proposal has made an impact.

Parent and member of the Board of Governors, Mairaid Kelly, said: “We want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who supported us throughout the last few weeks.

“It’s incredible that we’ve submitted the largest petition on record against a primary school closure, with more than 8,950 signatures from people who want to save St. Mary’s.

“We know that hundreds of letters have been submitted to the Department of Education, detailing the contribution of, and need for, a strong, small school like ours within our community.”

Mairaid explained that the letters didn’t just come from parents and staff.

“They came from local employers who recognise the need for our school to continue to deliver education for all of the children in the area.

“They came from Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and Omagh Councils who are deeply concerned about another potential erosion of rural services.

“And they came from elected representatives and candidates from Sinn Fein, the DUP, SDLP, UUP, Alliance and a range of Independents who want the fact that our school enrolment is rising, and we remain financially viable, to be given due consideration through this process,” she said.

A few weeks ago, hundreds of people took to the streets of Fivemiletown to protest against the proposal to close the primary school.

Many of them were parents, all of whom want the best for their children.

“If St. Mary’s was unable to achieve the very best for our children, we wouldn’t be fighting so passionately for its retention.

“We know that the range of curricular and extra-curricular activity, and support offered by highly-skilled staff, benefits all of our children and enables them to strive to achieve their best,” said Mairaid.

She added: “We also discovered that our school had seen the highest percentage growth in enrolment of any Catholic primary school in Northern Ireland, with an even higher number of admissions coming this September.

“At a time when primary school enrolment is falling, this really is a remarkable achievement, and testament to the strengths of small schools like ours.”

She added that “all that remains now is to see whether this consultation has been a genuine exercise of trying to understand and determine whether this proposal is sound”.

Continuing, she said: “If the consultation responses throughout this relentlessly positive campaign are given due consideration, then we are confident that no-one could take the decision to close our school, on the basis of the extensive evidence we have provided to demonstrate our continued sustainability both now and into the future.

“This is not simply a ‘hearts and minds’ argument – this is a deeply concerning example of public policy being misinterpreted and misapplied, and we hope the Department now steps in to right the wrongs of this process.”