Mother fights for son’s school place

A mother of a young boy with additional school needs said she is at ‘breaking point’ over what she described as the ‘deplorable treatment of the State’s most vulnerable children’.

Jessica Dowdall spoke out following her attempts to secure a place in a specialist education unit for her eight-year-old son Sam, who has a developmental language disorder and is severely dyslexic.

Despite his condition, Jessica has been refused a place in three special units she visited, as they are already oversubscribed. She has also called several other specialist facilities but said none were able to accommodate Sam.

This week, Jesesica wrote about Sam’s plight on social media in a post that was viewed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris. The country’s two most senior politicians advised her to contact Education Minister Helen McEntee, which she did, as well as writing to 20 other political representatives to highlight Sam’s case.

Sam has attended the speech and reading unit in St Marnock’s school in Portmarnock, North Dublin, since 2023. However, two years is the maximum currently allowed by the Department of Education. And Sam – who is due to finish at St Marnock’s in June – has currently nowhere else to go come September.

Ms Dowdall, who works as a hairstylist, stressed she has nothing but praise for the ‘fantastic’ staff and facilities at St Marnock’s.

She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I can’t thank them enough for what they have done for him, the speech therapists, the principal, everyone. But two years is all they are allowed for the whole of their lives as there are only 15 such units in the country.’

She added: ‘It’s a disgrace how little value the Government puts on our children’s lives. It’s heartbreaking; by letting down the most vulnerable and denying children like Sam their Constitutional right to an education, the Government is setting them up to fail.’

Jessica works as a creative hair director on high-end photoshoots which allows her the flexibility to cater for her son’s needs outside school.

‘Before that I worked full time but with all the uncertainty, I had to cut back on my working week. I also spent thousands of euros on speech therapies because what Sam and every child with additional or special needs are entitled to by the State is totally inadequate.’

A single parent, Ms Dowdall said she would be lost without the support of her own parents.