Two years ago, a small group of parents started this petition to express concerns about the unnecessarily stressful post-primary school entry procedures in Galway City.

We requested that the Principals and Boards of Management at our excellent city secondary schools rethink their admissions system, making it easier and more transparent. We suggested that a common system akin to the one in place in Limerick might also benefit our children.

This alternative system would give families the chance to apply for as many schools as they wish through a single centralised online form. Families could provide an order of preference, while schools could maintain screening preferences for siblings of existing students or children of staff, for example.

A procedure such as this would do away with a considerable admin load for parents and school staff. It would minimise waiting times and reduce the potential for opacity surrounding place allocation, which disproportionately affects the families of pupils with additional needs.

As of July 2025, the Irish Times reported that the Department of Education will pilot a streamlined, common-application system for first-year admission across five towns - Athenry, Celbridge, Clonakilty, Greystones, and Tullamore - beginning this October. This innovation promises to reduce stress, simplify enrolments, and eliminate duplicate applications.

We have waited long enough now, and so we are once again asking, at the start of this new academic year, for a similar revision of the post-primary school applications process in Galway City to be implemented as soon as possible.

About us:

This petition represents the views of a loose coalition of parents advocating for a modern, transparent, equitable, and efficient admissions process for school entry in Galway City.

We are committed to communicating the concerns and frustrations of parents that are repeated every autumn, in the hope that positive changes will be made.

Without a campaign such as this, it is difficult to accurately express the level of frustration that this matter creates. Those affected are often unaware of the issues and inefficiencies until they are already in the midst of the application process, and once school places are allocated, understandably, attention is directed elsewhere.

This campaign attempts to draw a connecting line between Sixth Class parents of the academic years 2023/2024, 2024/2025, 2025/2026 (and beyond). Our key aim is to provoke constructive dialogue on this matter between the Department of Education and local school authorities.