Hundreds gathered outside Merchant’s Quay on Wednesday, February 26, to protest government plans to review special needs assistant (SNA) allocations.
Demonstrations took place across the country, including outside Leinster House, sending out an SOS signal: Save Our SNAs.
Though Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton has now confirmed that no reductions to SNAs will be made this year and any school that has been allocated additional resources will receive them.
Protesters remained clear with their message: “A pause is not a win.”
Fórsa Trade Union said in an online statement: “This situation should never have happened. The Government has failed to prioritise this issue for too long.”
Speaking at the protest outside City Hall, Marie Galligan said: “We stand here today because our children deserve certainty – not last-minute reassurances, not temporary pauses, and not promises that might disappear next year.”
This issue is close to home for Ms. Galligan. Not only is she an SNA, she is a mother to her 14-year-old son, Adam, who has autism.
“I want to ask the Government something,” Ms. Galligan said.
“Have you ever sat at a kitchen table with a newly diagnosed parent? Because the fight it took just to get that diagnosis has already brought them to their knees.
“Have you seen the fear in their eyes when they say, ‘I don’t know if I’m strong enough for this fight’?
“Because I have,” she continued. “And I remember exactly what that feels like — because I’ve lived it too.”
Ms. Galligan explained: “As an SNA, I see every day the difference the right support makes.
“I’ve watched confidence grow, friendships form, and children achieve things people once believed were out of reach.”
She concluded her speech, which had brought many of those gathered to tears, by telling the Government: “When we support children, we don’t just change their futures — we shape the kind of country we are.”
Speaking to Limerick Voice reporters after the protest, Ms. Galligan said: “The only respite many parents get is when their children are in school.
“There are a lot of other parents who wanted to be here today but couldn’t.
“We are used to sticking together as a community of special needs parents and we will always stand up for our children’s rights, and the government is very foolish to think we are going to lie down on this one.”
Special education teacher (SET) Pádraig Lohan said: “I genuinely could not count the number of children throughout my career who I know to have engaged and succeeded and got on in a mainstream classroom thanks to the support of an SNA.”
He added that “ a lot of these are also children who might not fit the narrow definition that the NCSE seems to be asking for nowadays.”
“They don’t tick the right box, but they do need support. They’ve always needed support.”
Senior programme coordinator of Autism Studies at UCC, Eleanor McSherry, told the crowd: “The SNAs are the rock, the constant in the life of our children.”
She added that she was “sick” of the government’s “crocodile tears,” saying that autistic children have the same right to education in the constitution.
“No other child coming into the school system has that expectation of having to fight.”
Social Democrats Councillor Elisa O’Donovan said she was surprised by the turnout: “It was quite remarkable for a short notice protest at five o’clock on a Wednesday evening.
“I think we saw hundreds of SNAs, teachers, principals, and parents with children with additional needs all here today.
“That really sent a strong show of solidarity from Limerick to say very clearly that we do not accept any cutbacks in SNA provision, now or next year or ever.”
Cllr O’Donovan added: “The only security a parent has is that when their children are in school, they will have access to an SNA.
“It was the final straw then when the government decided [they] are going to take that now too, basically telling a child with special needs that you cannot go to school.”
Minister Naughton said in a statement that she “understands the anger and upset that arose this week.”
She emphasised that the Government is “committed to an education system where every child and young person feels and is valued, and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.”