A Donegal priest who organised hundreds of vigils at schools where polling stations were located during the referendum today has described it as a “total success.”
Fr John Joe Duffy organised the vigils with his Church of Ireland counterpart Rev John Deane in protest at education cuts.
The majority of the vigils lasted an hour between 3 and 4pm at schools from Buncrana to Ballyshannon.
Fr.Duffy, who is based on Arranmore Island said “The support and positive response of parents and members of the general public was more successful than we expected.
“Parents and members have once again shown their support for their children and their local schools,” he said.
The vigils were the second success of the campaign after almost 3000 people attended a rally in Letterkenny last March.
Fr Duffy added it will be next week before the group can quantify the full extent of the vigils, when people will gather at a meeting from all corners of Co. Donegal.
“There is growing momentum behind the Save Our Schools Campaign, and it is intended to continue with this campaign upward and onward.
“We are going to hold a county convention on rural schools, which will lead to a national convention later in the year. We are here to stay, we are not going away nor are we going to disappear, nor will we let our rural schools disappear. We are now calling on all political reps to work together to protect rural schools and the future of our children and their education.
“We have sent a strong message to Minister Quinn and the government today to prioritise investment in education and to have the cutbacks reversed. We want fairness for our children in rural Ireland,” he added.
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