All black school in Dublin, Ireland

The first all-black childrens school has opened in Dublin, Ireland.

Children of African immigrants will have no choice but to attend an all-black school because they have failed to receive places in Ireland's overloaded education system, the Irish government confirmed yesterday.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin said the problems in the north Dublin suburb of Balbriggan reflected bad planning amid rapid population growth, not racist attitudes at existing schools. She vowed to get the new school, which will take students aged 4-12, integrated with white students as soon as possible.
"I would not like to see a situation developing where it is an all-black school, so it's something to keep an eye on for next year's enrollments," Mary Hanafin.
Hanafin said schools were doing their best and were not applying racist criteria. She said the government hoped to have a new school, organized by a non-denominational movement called Educate Together, up and running in Balbriggan by the end of the month.

About 90 children could not obtain school places in Balbriggan, Dublin. Local educators called a meeting over the weekend for parents struggling to find places and said they were shocked to see only black children.
"That overwhelmed me. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I just find it extremely concerning,'' said Gerard Kelly, principal of a school with a mixture of black and white students in the nearby town of Swords.
Almost all of the children are Irish-born and thus Irish citizens, under a law that existed until 2004. Some parents in attendance questioned why white families who had moved this year into the town had managed to overcome the registration deadlines to get their children into schools. There were also complaints concerning Ireland's school system. Some parents claim the system was discriminating against them on the basis of religion. Most Irish schools are run in conjuction with the Roman Catholic Church, and the law permits them to discriminate on the basis of whether a prospective student has a certificate confirming they were baptized into the RC faith.

The episode illustrates key tensions in modern Ireland, where development of new housing has galloped ahead of ill-planned services, such as schools and roads — and where immigrants, particularly from Africa, are outsiders looking in.
More than 25,000 Africans have settled in Ireland since the mid-1990s. Most arrived as asylum seekers, and many took advantage of Ireland's law — unique in Europe — of granting citizenship to parents of any Irish-born child. Voters toughened that law in a 2004 referendum.

When asked whether white parents were reluctant to have their children attend predominantly black schools, Hanafin suggested that Irish-born blacks were part of the same "race" as white Irish people, so such prejudice was irrational. "Just because the child is black doesn't mean they're not Irish. So it might be a skin-color issue, but it's not necessarily a race issue," she told national broadcasters RTE.

Meanwhile a new report shows that the North of Ireland has the same issues to solve.
Migrant numbers in NI schools up 40%
It has been revealed that children of migrant families attending schools in the north of Ireland have increased by 40%. the north of Ireland Employment and Learning Minister Sir Reg Empey says the development is leading to a big increase in costs involved in teaching English to these pupils as a second language.
Costs involved in teaching them English rose to £1.5m (€2.2m) in 2004/5 and is expected to rise.

Today, Mr Empey is to have talks in Dublin with Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, as well as the Enterprise, Trade and Employment minister, Micheál Martin. The future management of migrant workers on both sides of the border is expected to be among the main topics of discussion. He said sharing best practice was vital. He added: 'There are concerns that, if in the event of the economy tightening a bit, what would be the impact of migrant workers competing with local people for jobs and houses'.
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All black school in Dublin, Ireland