‘Dublin 8 Says No': Mother removes son aged 8 from school due to anti-immigration protests
Dublin 8
following nearby anti-
immigration
protests over recent weeks and a 'knife incident'.
Andreea-Claudia Calin took her son (8) out of Canal Way Educate Together School, located on Basin Lane, where protesters have gathered at drop-off and collection times. An encampment has been set up close to the school gates with Tricolours and graffiti stating: 'Dublin 8 Says No'.
An
International Protection Accommodation Service
centre has been in operation at Basin View since 2022. Plans to refurbish another building to expand the centre were under consideration by the
Department of Justice
but were dropped in recent weeks.
Ms Calin, who is originally from Romania and grew up in Greece, has been living in Ireland since 2018 with her partner and two children.
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The anti-immigration encampment near the Canal Way Educate Together school in Dublin 8. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
She was informed by the school of a 'knife incident' in the area last month. It is understood that a man, who is a foreign national, had been dropping his child off at a separate primary school nearby when there was an altercation with a teenage boy who wielded a knife and, allegedly, assaulted him.
Gardaí confirmed they attended the scene of 'an alleged assault and public order incident' on May 28th at 8.45am.
'A male youth was arrested concerning the incident,' said a Garda spokesman. 'He has since been released and a file will now be prepared for the Garda youth diversion programme.'
Ms Calin said hearing about the knife incident 'felt like American news'.
'It's not something that you hear happening in a school in Dublin,' she said. 'I understand the free right to protest, but at the same time, there are some guidelines. It can't be threatening or intimidating. In my opinion, it's unlawful. Why have they not been removed from in front of the school? ... I want him to go to school, but it's not safe. Something needs to be done.'
Ms Calin said she made the decision on Monday not to send her son to school and informed his teacher and principal. She said she is homeschooling him.
'We have Irish friends, we live in a neighbourhood with Irish neighbours that we get along with. I got Irish citizenship ... I absolutely love it here. I never saw it as an unsafe place to live until recently,' she added.
'I don't understand why these kids have to pay for whatever it is between the people who are protesting and the Government. Why are they mixed up in this and why is no one doing something to protect them?'
The school's board of management said: 'We are always saddened when a child temporarily withdraws, particularly when the circumstances involve challenges that fall beyond the school's capacity to fully address or control.'
The board said it was 'monitoring' the protest's impact on its school community and 'direct requests' to protesters for a different approach have so far been unsuccessful.
'We've notified the situation to the departments of education and justice, An Garda Síochána, INTO [Irish National Teachers' Organisation], Fórsa ... seeking a respectful, inclusive resolution,' it added.
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