Aontú Derry School Dinners campaign

Following a meeting with the Education Authority, Aontú Ballyarnett representative Emmet Doyle has provided an update on his campaign on school meals.

The campaign began with a survey of parents regarding the meals their children were receiving in school.

"I met with the Education Authority on Monday to discuss the survey, photos and comments relating to school meals in the area," said Mr Doyle.

"It is important to clarify that not all schools in the area are catered by the Education Authority. These include Thornhill College, Oakgrove College, St Columb’s College, Foyle College, Ebrington PS and Lumen Christi College. As a result, concerns regarding those schools should be directed to their respective Boards of Governors.  I will be sending what data we have from those parents to them soon," he added.

"On January 15, 2026, the management of the Education Authority catering service issued a letter to its staff to re-iterate how meals should be operated. This was before my survey took place.

As a result of the survey, the Education Authority conducted a number of unannounced visits to schools in Derry on February 16 to observe some of the canteens based on what parents had said. 

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"It found that none of the schools observed served portions below what was deemed acceptable. They were serving more.

"A further communication is to be sent to Education Authority catering managers to ensure that enough food is ordered for pupils so that no canteen runs out of food, something to which many survey comments referred," said Mr Doyle.

"One important issue discussed at my meeting with the Education Authority was the topping up of cards," he added.

"Many parents were telling me they were doing this regularly.  There was a view that cards were being used both at break – to grab something small – and that’s why more money was then needed to get a meal at lunchtime. 

"The £3.34 for Free School Meals is food based – meaning it will be able to get a substantial lunch as part of the Education Authority schools menu, but naturally, if its used for breaks too, there won’t be enough money left to use for lunch.

"From here on in, it is important to say that if parents have concerns about the catering service, they should speak directly to the school principal.  If they are still not satisfied, they can email the Education Authority directly to schoolmealsinfo@eani.org.uk, which is monitored regularly.

"I wanted to finally say that I sought to gather and communicate your comments about meals in good faith.  The staff that work very hard to serve children every day do a brilliant job, and some were upset that their work was being called into question with the photos and response in the survey, that was not my intention and and I’m sure not the intention of any parents.

"The Last thing I would want is for them to feel they were being unfairly criticised.  I did the survey so I have to take responsibility for it which I’m happy to – and any of those hardworking staff that want to speak to me, my number is 07706955545 and I’m happy to take a call."