TWO Donegal teachers received a standing ovation at a national teacher’s union conference for their moving speech which outlined the devastating impact of living with mica.
Siobhán McCullagh and Áine Gallagher are both teachers at Crana College in Buncrana.
Together they told the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) conference about how both students and staff are living in a “waking nightmare”.
The constant stress caused by living in houses affected by defective concrete blocks has left students in ‘limbo’.
“We have students who are worrying about becoming homeless and living in dreadful, unsafe conditions while studying for exams. Hundreds are waking from their sleep to the unsettling sounds of walls cracking and blocks falling as they disintegrate,” Ms McCullagh told the conference.
Some students have even had to make the difficult decision to defer college courses so their parents can afford to rebuild their homes.
“Can you imagine the heartache parents are going through when having to choose between their child’s future or rebuilding their home,” said Ms McCullagh.
Ms Gallagher told of her own personal heartache, like many of her colleagues she is living in a mica-affected home.
A staggering 25 per cent of the staff at Crana College are living in homes crumbling from defective concrete blocks, the two teachers told their fellow delegates.
Following their heart-breaking plea the TUI has adopted a motion noting the “mental torture” that has been inflicted on adults and children impacted by defective concrete blocks.
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