The Let Me, Be Me! Campaign to preserve specialist pre-school services for children in Donegal stepped up a notch on Monday morning when a Threshold of Decency Statement was presented to and signed by over 40 public representatives at a meeting of Donegal County Council in Lifford. Oran Nibbs and Francis Grant arrived with their parents to see County Councillors sign the pledge to ensure that the HSE reverse their proposal to close St Agnes Special Needs Pre-School in Donegal Town next year and Ballaghderg Special Needs Pre-School in 2015. Photo Clive Wasson
The Let Me, Be Me! Campaign to preserve specialist pre-school services for children in Donegal stepped up a notch yesterday when a Threshold of Decency Statement was presented to and signed by over 40 public representatives at a meeting of Donegal County Council in Lifford.
Oran Nibbs and Francis Grant arrived with their parents to see County Councillors sign the pledge to ensure that the HSE reverse their proposal to close St Agnes Special Needs Pre-School in Donegal Town next year and Ballaghderg Special Needs Pre-School in 2015.
Avril McMonagle, Manager of Donegal County Childcare said the Threshold of Decency Statement is an important point of reference as it clearly outlines both a shared threshold position statement between Donegal public representatives and an agreed call for action on a number of key areas.
Avril McMonagle and incoming Mayor Ian McGarvey
“The shared consensus across all political parties on this issue has been very encouraging and we appreciate the interest and support which the campaign has generated’.
Avril highlights that in theory no one is against the principle of inclusion and believes that children should be educated alongside their peers in so far as is practically possible.
However, there will always be a small number of children who will never be able to attend mainstream pre-school services.
The closure of specialist pre-schools will lead to home care being the only option for this group of children, she added.
‘This is a fundamental breech of a child’s right to education to enable him or her to reach their full potential. As a society with standards of decency, we cannot allow balancing budgets to take precedence over the basic human rights of our most vulnerable citizens’ she said.
Avril said that although HSE West are citing national Government policy as the rationale for this proposal, we should remain cognisant of the fact that this particular decision has been made in Donegal and therefore can be reversed in Donegal.
The Threshold of Decency Statement will be presented to the HSE Donegal Area Manager this week and the next steps in the campaign will be determined by his response.
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