Getting Schooled

at

Oh.

Unsolicited letter from Paddy Judge (top right), principal of Cadamstown National School, County Kildare, sent home in children’s school bags on Monday.

That’ll learn them.

FIGHT!

Cadamstown NS

Thanks Derek

Meanwhile…

Sponsored Link

22 thoughts on “Getting Schooled

  1. Spud

    In the same week as an election?

    If a private sector employee tried anything like that, I’m sure their job would be at risk.

  2. Rob_G

    This is really, really poor judgement.

    Apart from being wholly inappropriate, he is now a lot less likely to ever get anything delivered for the school that requires any cooperation or acquiescence from any FG elected official (for as long as he is principal, anyhow).

      1. Rob_G

        Yes, but how should we as a society decide which schools are allocated which resources – I think we should at least aim for some sort objective process, rather than by according to which school principal maintains the best relations with the highest number of local politicians…

  3. b

    Can Councillors directly allocate funds like he’s suggesting?

    i know they take credit for it, but that’s a different thing

      1. Cian

        looks like DCC had a €1m Discretionary Fund:

        A fund of €1 million has been allocated from the Annual Budget to each Local Area to be allocated and spent at the discretion of the elected members for that Area. The fund is Public Monies that are meant to augment the Public Service provision of Dublin City Council in the Area. Dublin City Council Services are funded through Budgets approved annually by a full meeting of City Council. The expenditure of the funds budgeted for different services are spent in accord with the priorities of the Executive.

        The Fund is a participatory budgeting arrangement whereby Councillors can determine their priorities in the allocation of the Fund. Thus a specific fund dedicated to the Area and not to central services allows Councillors to prioritise their funding for the Area. The Fund is not advertised or notified to the general public or to interest groups in the Area and is not a grant provision for community groups.

        https://www.dublincity.ie/councilmeetings/documents/s9937/Discretionary%20Funds%20Report%20March%202017.pdf

    1. Slightly Bemused

      Hi. Yes, this is true. Each councillor has a small fund they can use if not quite as they see fit, without many of the red tape a full council funding would need. Allows them to respond to requests from their constituents. It varies from council to council depending on their available budget.

      I apologise, I have been looking for an example, but all I can find are newspaper reportings on council proceedings, most of which are behind paywalls.

      1. b

        interesting, i guess the ‘he fixed the road’ isn’t just a snappy catchphrase

        can only guess the amount of dodgy decisions go on with those type of funds

        1. Slightly Bemused

          Sadly, your last statement is also true. A number of questionable decisions have made it to the courts, including, if memory serves, times when councillors used these funds for their own private purposes, in the days before they had to account for them. Now, while they are still ostensibly without controls, the councillors do have to provide and end of year report on their use, and show they were beneficial to the public good, or some such.

  4. Slightly Bemused

    Very poor judgement indeed! And I also would object to using the children as conveyors of such a letter. If it is not directly to do with their education, children should not be the postal service for the school.

    As to the prefabs, while not a perfect solution, I went to school for many years in a prefab, and look how I turned out!

    oh…

  5. GiggidyGoo

    The prefab part of this. Would the prefabs be supplied by Roankabin? I ask because that’s (I believe) another business interest of FGs owner.

  6. deluded

    Yeah I can understand sending the letter, schools are hotbeds for impassioned gossip and speculation. Better lay it out and draw a line under it, I say.
    The principal can only do so much.
    Our local school had support over the years from Labour mostly and a bit from FG and then the local FF big man turned up to cut the ribbon having had zero input for 25 years but was in government when the thing was finished.
    It would sicken you.
    Now it seems that the canvassing and glad-handing is all one-way with these politicians and if you speak up about it then your funding could be at risk. Creepy and weird, but then I’m used to the machinations of the Catholic church on school funding so I’m not surprised. Power and control, not public service, is the goal.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie