Dr Laura Keyes, Rabharta’s mayoral candidate for Limerick’s upcoming election, has welcomed a recent report on escalating school avoidance in Limerick, which highlights barriers faced by disenfranchised groups including members of the Travelling community.
The report, titled ‘Navigating School Attendance Challenges: Towards a Collaborative, Equitable and Unified Community Response in Limerick‘, was produced by Dr Catriona O’Toole and Tara Ćirić of Maynooth University.
Speaking on the campaign trail leading up to the June 7 election, Rabharta mayoral candidate for Limerick Dr Keyes said that there’s many socio-economic deadlocks locally that successive Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and other establishment parties at local and national level have failed to break.
“School avoidance that stems from the discrimination of Travellers and other marginalised groups – from neurodivergent to special educational needs, and those from working class backgrounds – is high amongst these failures. The report highlights the fact school avoidance is worsening,” Dr Keyes said.
Dr Keyes, a senior public health investigator and university lecturer, maintained that without early, person-centred intervention, local communities will sow the seeds for ongoing mental health issues, elevated risk of suicide, and prison sentences.
“This has been the situation for too long in Limerick, a city with the highest suicide rate in the country. We have to demand better. This report, rightly, calls for a person-centred response that draws support across community and state. Evidence-based, cross-community consultation such as this is exactly the kind of research that I would use to inform my work as directly-elected mayor.”
