A Kerry mother has expressed disappointment with the consultation process with her daughters' secondary school, upon hearing of its plans to install gender-neutral toilets in its new school building.
Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, a post primary scoil lán-Ghaeilge, had reportedly intended to install gender-neutral toilets in its new €16 million state-of-the-art facility in Tralee.
The student body at the school currently comprises of approximately 350 students.
The new facility will be capable of facilitating up to 600 students.
It is understood Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí had proposed plans to only install gender-neutral toilets in the school.
Upon hearing of the plans, some parents requested a meeting with the school’s Board of Management, at which they expressed their dissatisfaction with the plans.
Tralee mother Dee Stewart said she feels parents should have been consulted earlier on the matter and felt there was a lack of engagement with parents on the issue.
She said the prospect of the omission of a girls' bathroom at the Gaelcholáiste was an oversight in her opinion and that in her experience as a mother, privacy is important to teenagers and that a girls bathroom may provide sanctuary during the school day.
The school has since rowed back on its plans and has installed separate toilets for girls on the second floor, toilets for boys on the third floor and gender-neutral toilets on the first floor.
School principal Ruairí O Cinnéide said: "We want our students to come into our building and be happy here, to feel secure here, to be safe here. So inclusion, respect are vital in our school ethos. And we just want to make sure when a student comes in they can reach their potential in our school as part of our school community."
In a statement, a Department of Education spokesperson said: "The operation and designation of all toilet facilities in new school building projects is a matter for each school authority and not the Department of Education."
"Iit is a matter for each school authority to designate facilities as deemed appropriate by the school."
