A North Clare primary school feared to be on the brink of closure is to be given additional time to find enough pupils to keep its doors open.
With its September 30th deadline to bring its enrolment figure to 11 now having passed, Furglan National School has been advised by the Department of Education to submit an appeal in order to retain its school status and staffing levels.
Located in a remote townland between Inagh and Ennistymon, Furglan National School was established in 1879 and has been operating out of its current building since 1963 when roughly 70 children were on the books.
With this number now having dropped to seven, the school issued an appeal earlier this month with the aim of getting it to 11 by the September 30th deadline.
Achieving this would’ve given the school an effective guarantee of remaining open beyond June of next year.
The school has now been advised by the Department of Education’s Primary Allocations Unit to submit a ‘Small School Appeal’ to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board.
This would allow it to retain its school status and current staffing levels.
In a statement to Clare FM, Furglan National School says it will submit this appeal “in February or March 2026, once the Department has issued the updated national guidelines on the staffing schedule for primary education in Ireland”.
