Schoolhouses

Unfortunatly another whinging thread.

Its terrible the way the old school houses are being treated in this country. Many parents & teachers are crying out for redeveloping their old schools, the same people that are on pious Tidy Town committes spouting about the character of their area and its heritage, and then haggle the Department of Ed/OPW for ghastly extentions to the old buildings and for the gutting of them.
In my own local example, the school celebrated it’s 100th anniversary, it dating from 1899, a couple of years ago, & teachers and Board of Management spouted about its age and old students etc, and then preceded to strip the building and prepare for a ghastly two storey pebble-dashed extension.
All the old sashes were piled in a skip, suffice to say PVC was installed (with obilatory Georgian plastic grids), PVC facias, guttering and downpipes, unfinished aluminium gates, strippedthe (very substantial) old school of its slates in favour of synthetic tiles, destroyed much of its wonderful panneled interior, and overall created an utterly banal monstrosity in the village, whilst stripping the oldest public building in the area of it’s features.

I see this happening nationwide, and EVERYWHERE PVC is being installed. Is it not realised that a properly working sash is a joy to use and easier than any modern equivilant?

And who is in charge of ‘redesigning’ Ireland’s schools, the OPW? (they certainly used to) or a section of the Dep of Ed?

Whoever is ought to be ashamed of what they are doing. These schools are part of our heritage, and are often the oldest buildings in many towns and villages, and are as important as the classic symbol of church spires and Main St shop facades.

They deserve more than the ignorance of civil servants.