Athoscailt oifigiúil Scoil Naomh Gobnait I nGaeltacht Chiarraí. After almost three years of closure, Dún Chaoin's national school is reopened.
In 1970 a Fianna Fáil government decided to close this west Kerry Gaeltacht school located on the Dingle peninsula which had first opened in 1914. Parents were given the option of transferring their children to the national school in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh (Ballyferriter).
The closure was met with fierce resistance and a three-year nationwide campaign of protests, sit-ins and arrests followed, culminating in a march from Dún Chaoin to Dublin.
During that time children whose parents had opted to keep them in Scoil Naomh Gobnait were taught in an unofficial capacity by Mícheál Ó Dubhshláine, a Kildare native who gave up his post in Wesley College in Dublin to take on the role. His salary was paid by local people and supporters of the school.
The February 1973 general election brought a change of government with a Fine Gael-Labour coalition taking over. Richard Burke became Minister for Education and took the decision to reopen the school.
Today the tiny Gaeltacht village of Dún Chaoin was packed with locals, supporters and members of the press for the official reopening of Scoil Naomh Gobnait.
Michael Begley TD (Teachta Dála), Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of Local Government greeted the minister on his arrival, who made his way into the small school building for the opening ceremony.
In his speech Richard Burke asks the community to put events of the last few years behind them, and move forward in a spirit of friendship, safe in the knowledge that their school is once again part of the country's cultural heritage,
Chun an saibhreas iontach ó thaobh teanga agus cultúr de a bhfuair siad mar oidhreacht a roinnt níos flathúla fós ar mhuintir na hÉireann.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 June 1973. The reporter is Pádraic Ó Gaora.
