There are moments in school life when walls seem both shelter and barrier. For families of children with autism, the familiar corridors and classrooms are meant to be places of learning and growth — yet for some in north Dublin, that promise has hit a quiet, frustrating standstill. At Stapolin Educate Together National School in Baldoyle, the struggle to shape physical space for children with complex needs has become a story of good intentions meeting hard limits.
The school, already full with its rolling days and echoing hallways, has sought to open two additional autism classes to meet a growing local need. These classes — sanctuaries for structured learning and calm engagement — were sanctioned in principle by the Department of Education. But if permission was the first step, the next — funding for modular classrooms to house these spaces — remains out of reach.
Headteacher Clodagh Farrell’s plea paints a picture of a community continually rearranging its existing space, turning cupboards into teaching areas and bathrooms into sensory spaces in an effort to make ends meet. In a building that already contains nearly 350 students, there is simply no unused room to offer. The modular units requested are not fanciful extras; they are essential foundations for classrooms where children with autism can thrive with dignity and focus.
Within the quiet of classrooms and the bustle of school gates, the need for appropriate space echoes loudly. Across the local community, around fifty children remain on waiting lists for a place where they can learn in settings suited to their needs. Letters from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) guarantee many of these children the right to schooling — yet without physical space, that right remains abstract.
Department officials have offered reassurance that they are working with schools to open autism classes where existing space can be adapted. But for Stapolin ETNS, whose grounds could physically host the modular units, this feels like a half‑measure. Local representatives, joined by all of Dublin Bay North’s TDs, have urged urgent approval of the units, noting that everything — space, staff, support — is in place except the final funding nod.
In the soft light of school mornings, parents and children walk through doors that promise support and inclusion. Yet the absence of funded classrooms whispers of obstacles not yet surmounted. For these families, the hope remains that soon those whispers will turn to the sound of purposeful footsteps — children moving towards the education their community has patiently, persistently pursued.
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Sources • The Journal • Irish Times • Irish Examiner • RTÉ News • Independent.ie