in May without notice after operating as a charity since 1979 in the grounds of Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Mr Ward said the department “must step in to safeguard this school because if the Newpark Academy of Music closes” a “whole collection of potentially hugely successful musicians will essentially be prevented from gaining a quality music education as they have been doing for a long number of years”. Mr Ward said the staff and students “ cannot get answers from the board or the people managing the school. It is grossly unfair on them. Importantly, it also shuts down that vital pipeline of musical education for Blackrock”.
He said if there is “financial difficulty or organisational difficulty, or whatever it might be, the Department of Education must step in to safeguard this school”.