Local Fine Gael senator and party spokesperson on education in the senate Fidelma Healy Eames is urging people to attend a meeting in the city tonight (Thursday ) which will highlight what she terms the Government’s “cruel and callous” education cuts in Budget ‘09.
The public meeting, which will be held at the Salthill Hotel at 7.30pm, is being organised by the Oranmore senator and Fine Gael frontbench spokesperson for education, Brian Hayes, to protest against the Budget cuts which she says will impact “so gravely” on children’s futures.
“Around the country for the past month, Fine Gael has been carrying out a series of public meetings, half of which have been attended by the party leader, Enda Kenny, in order to meet with the public, hear their concerns and propose Fine Gael’s ‘tough but fair’ alternatives.
“Fine Gael in Galway, in conjunction with myself and Deputy Brian Hayes, will hold a meeting in Galway to highlight the effects the Government’s cruel and callous cuts in Budget ’09 will have on our education system and on our children’s futures. Moreover we will also debate the way forward from here.”
She says Fianna Fáil’s slashing of education funds will see class sizes increase, leave primary school children without teacher substitution, deprive the most vulnerable of essential resources like language support and seriously threaten special needs provision in the future.
“Children in Galway, and across Ireland, are now paying the price for 11 years of Fianna Fáil incompetence and financial mismanagement,” she claims. “Last weekend saw 60,000 people take to the streets of Dublin to vent frustration with Government decisions. Some weeks ago, in Cathedral Square in Galway, 8,000 parents, children and teachers also braved the inclement weather to voice their discontent. I am urging the people of Galway to join with us on Thursday night.”
