Today Mon Nov 2nd at 11.30am, James Mc Donagh, father of 11 year old, Angel Mc Donagh, a special needs child who has been denied schooling for over a year, will take his daughter to St Michael’s House in Rathgar (17 Grosvenor Rd) in an effort to enrol her as we was instructed to do by the Department of Education.
Pictured above: Angel McDonagh
***St Michael’s House has already claimed to Mr Mc Donagh, and recently in a public statement on the matter, that it cannot enrol Angel because it lacks the resources as a result of under-funding and recent cutbacks.
The Department of Education, on the other hand, has rejected the claims of St Michael’s House and stated that the school should be in a position to enrol Angel.
Angel Mc Donagh suffers from closed Spina Bifida, Global developmental disorder and ADHD and has been out of school for the last year because all the special needs schools that her father has attempted to enrol her in have said they lack the resources to provide for her education needs.***
James and Angel Mc Donagh (pictured above) hit the headlines in recent weeks when they walked into the Green party special convention in the RDS demanding to talk to Green Party leader, John Gormley TD.
Since then, Mr Mc Donagh has organised a protest at the Dail and campaigned in the media to highlight his daughter’s plight and attempt to put pressure on the government and authorities to provide for his daughter’s education and other needs.
As well as being denied schooling, Angel has also been unable to gain access to the physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy she requires for her condition.
The family are also being forced to live in a completely unsuitable temporary halting site on Dun Laoghaire harbour’s west pier because of long delays in sourcing proper accommodation from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council.
Disgracefully, since James Mc Donagh went public with the campaign for his daughter, the HSE, instead of taking action to secure the care and education Angel needs, have actually threatened to take his daughter from him if he continues to campaign publicly about her situation.
However, Mr Mc Donagh is determined he will continue his campaign until his daughter receives the education, care and proper housing she requires.
Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit Alliance has been assisting James and Angel in their campaign will accompany him to St Michael’s House today.
James Mc Donagh said: “This whole situation is unbelievable. The law requires that a child goes to school. Normally parents who fail to ensure their children go to school would face the wrath of the law. Instead, I have done everything in my power to get my daughter the education she needs and I am being refused wherever I turn.
I am going to St Michael’s House because the Department of Education told me that they should take Angel and have the resources to do so. So I will take them at their word and attempt to enrol her there, even though St Michael’s House have stated publicly that they are not in position to take her unless the Department provides them with the necessary funding. What am I supposed to do?
It is even more disgraceful, that the HSE are now threatening to take my daughter from me if I continue to campaign publicly about her situation. Instead of honouring their obligations to a special needs child, they are trying to intimidate her family to brush the whole thing under the carpet. I am not going to give in to that sort of bullying.”
Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett said: “I can’t believe that now the facts of this appalling situation have come publicly to light that the powers that be are still refusing to sort the whole thing out. You would think that the Department of Education and the HSE would be so embarrassed by their own failures that they would move immediately to resolve the situation and get Angel the education and other help she needs. Instead, they are just passing the buck and incredibly in the case of the HSE, actually trying to intimidate James Mc Donagh into keeping quiet about the whole thing.”