A young Kerrykeel child is unable to attend school because her school is being denied a Special Needs Assistant.
Allissa Walshe is four years of age and has Type 1 Diabetes.
She requires a full-time special needs assistant to monitor her insulin levels while attending the local Scoil Colmcille.
Appeals by the school and her family have been rejected meaning Allissa must remain at home until this crisis is resolved.
Allissa was already in the infants class for three weeks, the school stood the cost in the hope the problem would quickly be resolved.
Allissa’s mum Lorna said it is heartbreaking to see how she is missing all her wee friends in class. She radiates happiness and all she wants is to bring her wonderful smile into the school.
A spokesperson for Diabetes Ireland told the Walshe family this week they’d never before come across an instance of this kind.
Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher received the latest ‘rejection note’ for an SNA on Wednesday morning.
A spokesperson at the National Council for Special Education outlined the pathway going forward in seeking an
SNA.
Allissa’s mother Lorna Walshe explained her case to Education Minister Helen McEntee in Milford.
However, the Walshe family have been processing all these regulations for over eighteen months and all they’ve met with is rejection.
Pat the Cope explained “There are two ministers involved in such instances. Helen McEntee is Minister for Education while Deputy Michael Moynihan is the Minister for Special Needs and it is a
question of clarity.
“This is an urgent situation and while each case is different, the reality is that Minister Helen McEntee must lift the phone and talk to her colleague and that should have resolved the problem. The Minister was fully briefed when she visited Milford on Friday,” according to Deputy Gallagher.
Allissa’s mum, Lorna said: “We exhausted every pathway available and we are getting nowhere. The situation is a disgrace and we are being treated very unfairly.
“These ongoing rejections are unfair and the child is heartbroken because she loves being in infants class.
Allissa cannot be in class this week because she’s denied that right with her case for special needs being rejected several times by officialdom.
“And it is all the more bizarre given that a special needs assistant has already got to know Allissa and has completed the necessary training.”
Lorna said these should be great days for the family because she loved playschool for two years. And after the summer break, her smile lit up the infants class in the local Scoil Colmcille.
But this week things are different. She is not allowed to come to school because she is being denied a special needs assistant.
Lorna added: “Allissa was in playschool in Scoil Colmcille for two years and she had all the help needed to monitor the insulin levels and there were no problems.
“We applied for a special needs assistant in February last year to ensure that it would be there when Allissa joined the infants class after this year’s summer break.
“Our requests were turned down: we appealed the decision a number of times and the Dept. kept rejecting us.”
“On Friday, Lorna met with Helen McEntee during her visit to Milford – she said the meeting was positive and the Minister promised to help as did Minister Charlie McConalogue who also visited the national school, he promised to look into the circumstances.
All the politicians are eager to resolve the delay – Pat the Cope, Pearse Doherty, Pauric McGarvey and Liam Blaney have all been lobbying the Dept of Education.
Minister McConalogue has said he is following every possible avenue to ensure a four years old child is given a special needs assistant to allow her return to school.
The Minister said the number of education bodies who have to process the case is taking time and he understands
this is leading to ongoing delays and frustration.
Allissa is the daughter of Lorna and Darren Walshe and there is a family of six. Their home is at Bar an Droichead and is within shouting distance of the Kerrykeel school.
In their response the National Council for Special Education stated: “SNA support is allocated annually to schools to meet schools’ primary care needs, with schools able to seek an NCSE review where there is a
significant change in their circumstances.
“For the previous school year, this student’s school (Kerrykeel National School had a SNA review, and no increase of SNA was the outcome.
“The school then raised an appeal, and the Appeal Committee did not uphold the appeal, and the school did not receive any increase of SNA.
“This is a three-teacher school with 2 SNAS. The school has stated that they have hired a third SNA privately and this has been financially burdensome.
“The SNA review window for this school year is open for both mainstream and special schools from 15 September to 24 October 2025. Mainstream and Special schools can apply via the NCSE SNA Review page (NCSE.ie) which contains information and resources to assist schools with the process”
Meanwhile the Walshe family has thanked everyone for their assistance: the school BOM, the staff, Aillissa’s health care team and those who’ve been lobbying hard to bring this issue to a satisfactory end.
They hope Allissa can return to her infants class before the end of this week.
Kerrykeel girl, 4, forced to miss school because she cannot get an SNA was last modified: September 26th, 2025 by Staff Writer