Despite the serious shortage of teachers nationally, schools in Co Mayo are spoiled for choice, and the quality of life is part of the attraction
Niall Quinn, principal of Westport Educate Together in Co Mayo : 'We have a real mix of children from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.' Photograph: Michael McLaughlinAs he prepares to fill temporary teaching staff positions in a small primary school in the west of Ireland, the principal, Niall Quinn, is spoiled for choice.
When Quinn taught in Dún Laoghaire he had a two-hour commute each day to and from home on the north side of the city. When Westport ETNS opened in 2019 it had eight pupils; this September there will be 50 pupils on the roll. “This is front and central of many applications. Others may have an address in Dublin but confirm they are natives of the west,” he says.
“After I qualified in the early 1980s, the main thing was to move away to cities to experience life there. It is so interesting and great to see some of the children I taught 20-plus years ago moving back home and taking up teaching positions here. I assume it is partly due to accommodation costs but quality of life in the west is a big draw these days,” Vaughan says.
Breaffy NS has 250 pupils with 15 full-time teachers, as well as three fully qualified teachers who are part of the Department of Education’s supply panel for subs in the area.
Educate-Together Westport For-You
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