UPDATED: 'Magnificent and long-awaited day for Tipperary Town'

Pictured left to right: Caitriona O’Farrell, Deputy Principal, Monastery CBS; Siobhan Verdon, Principal, St Michael’s Junior Boys; Deputy Michael Lowry, Ide Mooney, Principal, St Michael’s GNS; Louise Tobin, Principal, St Joseph’s Primary, Tipperary Town.

Tipperary TD Michael Lowry had welcomed the news that schools in Tipperary Town have finally been formally included in the DEIS Programme.

"It was announced on Wednesday that Tipperary Junior Boys National School, Tipperary Girls National School, St. Joseph’s Primary School, Scoil na mBraithre and Gael Scoil Thiobraid Arann are now officially recognised as DEIS schools," he says.

"These schools have waited a long time for this news. I have worked hard over the past few years to have these schools included in the DEIS scheme, dealing on a regular basis with both the Taoisigh, Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin and successive Ministers for Education, Joe McHugh TD and Norma Foley TD.

"Since the schools were excluded in 2017, which led to an outcry, securing DEIS funding for the schools has been a priority for me.

"We successfully secured an Interim package for the schools, which provided some, but not all, of the benefits that DEIS provides. Now the schools are fully recognised and the future is brighter for many students, families and the schools themselves.

"DEIS is all about equality of opportunity in schools, meaning that children from more challenging backgrounds and disadvantaged socio-economic situations can participate more effectively in their education."

"The massive protests organised by March4Tipp, hugely supported by the schools, certainly helped to move political thinking towards granting this vital approval to Tipperary Town schools".

"DEIS will help children to complete their school education. Tipperary Town has one of the highest levels of early school leavers. When you leave school at 13 years of age, you have so little chance of ever gaining employment, and so the cycle of deprivation continues. DEIS will help to change all of that," Deputy Lowry said.