The admission by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority that it cannot now guarantee long promised funding of €6m to rebuild a school on Sheriff Street in Dublin has been described as a ‘betrayal’.
The principal of St Laurence O'Toole National School, Labour councillor Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, said this was the result of ‘reckless land speculation and gambling’ by the authority.
The authority was set up in 1997 to lead a major project of social and economic regeneration in the docklands and attracted €3.35bn in private and public investment.
In its last annual report the Authority said it will need Government help to cope with a deficit of €213m.
This followed the Authority's exposure after the €412m purchase of the Glass Bottle site in Ringsend, which has lost 85% of its value.
There was criticism of this deal at the time because the DDDA was acting both as planning authority and developer and because of links at the time between the boards of the Authority and National Irish Bank.
St Laurence O'Toole in Sheriff Street, which caters for primary school girls and young boys, is housed in a 160-year-old building and has been without proper maintenance for ten years while awaiting the rebuilding, according to Mr Ó Ríordáin.
A spokesman for the DDDA said that it remains committed to the project but ‘will have to consider its ability to provide €6m in support in light of the very serious financial challenges’.
Mr Ó Ríordáin said ‘the children of both schools have been betrayed by the reckless and disgusting greed of those who have now gambled away the educational future of the very communities they were established to protect’.
