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offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
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offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
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Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Ed Miliband?s Ongoing Fight with Reality (and Now Tony Blair) Thu May 01, 2025 07:00 | Ben Pile
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The post Ed Miliband’s Ongoing Fight with Reality (and Now Tony Blair) appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Thu May 01, 2025 01:37 | Richard Eldred
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The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Faux-Radicalism of Kneecap Wed Apr 30, 2025 19:00 | Andrew Doyle
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The post The Faux-Radicalism of Kneecap appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Green Party Continues to Persecute Me for My Belief That Men Can?t Become Women Wed Apr 30, 2025 17:00 | Shahrar Ali
Dr Shahrar Ali was the Green Party justice spokesman when he was removed over his gender critical views. He won an unlawful discrimination claim in 2024. But the party then ejected him! He's now taking it to court again.
The post The Green Party Continues to Persecute Me for My Belief That Men Can’t Become Women appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Royal Marine Says Standards are ?Being Lowered? for Female Trainees and He Was Treated Like a Terror... Wed Apr 30, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
A Royal Marine has gone public with his concerns that standards are being lowered for female trainees, claiming lives could be at risk and that he was treated like a terrorist for raising his worries.
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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

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Cuts to Special Needs School

category dublin | health / disability issues | opinion/analysis author Friday June 03, 2016 03:15author by Wayne Flanagan Tobin Report this post to the editors

On Thursday evening 2nd June 2016 I attended a meeting in St. Augustine’s school in Blackrock where parents expressed outrage at the withdrawal of the Saint John of God Community Services Supports on a phased basis commencing in September 2016. The school was described as a “centre of excellence” for its vocational programme which has had a very positive impact on the lives of many children with special needs in South Dublin, Wicklow and surrounding areas.

On Thursday evening 2nd June 2016 I attended a meeting in St. Augustine’s school in Blackrock where parents expressed outrage at the withdrawal of the Saint John of God Community Services Supports on a phased basis commencing in September 2016. The school was described as a “centre of excellence” for its vocational programme which has had a very positive impact on the lives of many children with special needs in South Dublin, Wicklow and surrounding areas.

Parents criticized the inappropriate communication method in which the children were told this by a letter going in their school bags rather than being sent in the post. The school Principal came under fire for the way this was handled.

As a qualified Special Needs Assistant and former employee of St. Declan’s Special School in Ballsbridge this issue is extremely close to my heart. I know from my experience the level of support which these children need in order to reach their full potential. Every child has a right to reach their God given potential. It’s up to all of us as responsible adults to ensure we campaign to prevent any cuts to our Special Schools.

According to a Staff Communication Statement issued on the 25th May 2016, a decision has been made to discontinue operating a residential service from June 2017 with no new admissions along with the discontinuation of the Extended Day from September 2016. The hugely successful Vocational Development Department will also be abolished resulting in no Sports Co-ordinator or Music teacher. The Sports Department Staff will apparently be offered “redeployment opportunities”.

It remains unclear why these services are being removed but for me it is attack on the most vulnerable in society. Richard Boyd Barrett TD was in attendance and offered an interesting view: the school has been so successful that it is victim of this very success. When all the boxes have been ticked, it appears that the HSE feel that their job is done. In other words, when something is working perfectly well, the service is withdrawn. This kind of policy makes no sense. How can SNAs be expected to manged to take on extra work when they themselves are also under so much pressure? Ultimately it is the children who will be affected. Other staff who provide supports namely Administrative, Household, Maintenance and Catering will also be removed or “redeployed” as Saint John of God Community Services so eloquently put it.

So what are St. John of God going to do with the empty buildings? Will they lease them to the department of education or lease them for office space? It’s lucrative land in a prime location… Parents echoed suspicion as a site close to the school is now up for sale advertising full planning permission for nine residential housing units, apartments and surface carparks.

Are St. John of God Community Services Limited operating as a business or community service?

Two parents who sit on the board of management told the meeting they were not consulted in relation to this but instead handed a letter at the end of a meeting under AOB. It appears the last people to hear about this were the parents of the children.

If you feel passionate about this issue please help us in our campaign by contacting the Directors in Granada House Stillorgan County Dublin on 01-533 33 00 and voicing your concerns by letter, email or telephone to clarify the exact reasons for removing services for the most vulnerable.

One thing is for sure strong opposition exists to these crazy plans and Granada house has a fight on their hands.

Related Link: https://wayneflanagantobin.wordpress.com/
author by Fergus-Parentpublication date Sat Jun 04, 2016 21:26author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Many years ago churches sold off their land and it seems St. John of Gods are doing the same. Those with special needs are being treated like second class citizens and there is more to what's going on here.

 
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