From the Archives: 'There is no child in the National school at Tranquilla who has not lunch'

At the ordinary monthly meeting of the Rathmines Urban Council yesterday, the question of the provision of meals for school children came up for discussion on the report of the School Attendance Committee.

The Clerk (Mr. Sencome Mason) submitted letters which he had received from the managers of the three large schools in the township.

The Very Rev. Canon Cronin, P.P., Rathgar, wrote:– “I wish to state that the view which I have more than once expressed to you upon the subject remains unaltered. There is no child in the National school at Tranquilla who has not lunch. If any child comes to school without a lunch, I myself supply one.”

The Rev. Richard Fleming, P.P., manager of Rathmines National school, wrote to say that he had already stated his views on the matter.

The Rev. J. Tobias, Rathmines Rectory, writing as manager of the township school, said:– “While realising the benefit of such provision in some cases, I do not think it desirable to arrange for meals in the schools of which I am manager. In the first place, I imagine that the parents of most of the children, if not all, are in a position to provide proper meals themselves; also there are no facilities on the premises for the cooking of such meals . . . If the authorities agreed to provide suitable cooking facilities, and were willing to grant school meals, even where the children were not in very needy circumstances, I would be glad to avail myself of them.”

Mrs. Kettle, the Chairman, explained that when, some five or six years ago, a scheme for feeding necessitous school-going children in Rathmines was drawn up on the report of the School Attendance Officers, agreement upon the details of the scheme had been almost reached when a meeting with the managers was called, but the three Catholic managers declined to attend, and had since maintained a similar attitude of declining to express their views, except very briefly and curtly, without meeting the members of the Council, having absolutely declined to discuss the question with the Council.

In letters they expressed pretty much the views of the Rev. Mr. Tobias – that in their schools there was no real or urgent necessity for the provision of meals. As the members of the Council knew, the majority of the necessitous children in Rathmines attended the Catholic schools. They knew that at present poverty in Rathmines was very acute, but there was no intention in connection with the Council scheme of associating with it the idea of pauperism, as children who could afford would pay for their meals, while the knowledge of those who could not would only be known to the teachers. The provision of 1,000 meals per day for the children of the Rathmines schools would only cost a halfpenny in the pound on the rates, as half the cost would be borne by the Government. The Council would hold those three managers responsible if the children had to go without luncheon or a midday meal.

Mr. Gogan maintained that the managers were the best judges of the necessities of the children in the schools under their charge, and he did not see why the Council should dictate to them in regard to the provision of meals for the children if they thought there was no necessity for providing meals.

Dr. K. Lynn said that it would be very detrimental to the health of the children at school if they did not get proper food during the day, and would have deleterious reactions upon the rising generation. Health visitors in Rathmines and school teachers had impressed the necessity upon the Council of having meals for the necessitous children at school, and they should be much better judges than others of what the children required.

Mr. L. P. Byrne said the Council should emphasise to the managers who were opposing the scheme that the meals would be provided for the rich as well as the poor, but so far as the necessity for providing the meals was urgent a person would be convinced of that by looking at the children during the recreation hour at Richmond Hill.

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Selected by Joe Joyce; email fromthearchives@irishtimes.com