Nobber takes exception to educational attainment 'slur'

There has been a furious reaction in Nobber to claims by College Proteins that residents of the area have a low rate of educational achievement. The comments were made in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) drawn up on behalf of the company, which was submitted as part of its planning application for a meat and bonemeal incinerator in the village. The EIS stated Nobber was characterised by a higher than average proportion of its population classified as 'unskilled' and that the area had an appreciably lower level of educational attainment than the rest of Meath or the State. North-East Against Incineration spokesman, Johnny Keogan, said the comments were hilarious coming from a company which had applied for permission to build an incinerator on lands it didn't own. Deputy Thomas Byrne was strongly critical of the statement which, he said, misrepresented the educational attainments of local people. He accused College Proteins of insulting the residents of Nobber. "They have very selectively used out-of-date census data from a small subset of Nobber parish to show north Meath people in a bad light," he said. "The people of north Meath have run a very well-organised campaign against the College Proteins incinerator proposal. A huge number of submissions with intelligent well thought-out arguments have been lodged by concerned residents against this proposal, including my own submission," he said. Deputy Byrne said it was extraordinary that nowhere in College Protein's lengthy discussion on local educational attainment is mention made of the location of O'Carolan College in the heart of Nobber. "I know from dealing with O'Carolan College that it punches well above the national average when it comes to academic achievement," said Deputy Byrne. "Over 80 per cent of students continue on to third-level education and not a single pupil at the school has left education following the junior cycle in the past two years. These facts are a record for any school and community to be proud of. These facts directly contradict statements made by College Proteins," he said. Deputy Byrne said that, on Sunday morning, he had been lucky to be at the O'Carolan Mass in Nobber in the presence of two professors from the area, Professor George Eogan and Professor Seamus Mac Gabhann. "Not many villages can boast of two nationally renowned professors. That said it all to me," he added. "I have always supported the economic contribution made by College Proteins in the local community while expressing my concerns about the proposal now before Bord Pleanala. I would encourage College Proteins to clarify these statements at the oral hearing and to give Bord Pleanala the full facts," he said. A spokesperson for College Proteins said the reference in the company's EIS about educational attainment was merely a factual statement within a detailed section of the report comprising the 'current socio-economic baseline.' "That section of the report details facts about the Nobber electoral division alongside the same data for the whole of County Meath and the entire State, and all the facts and figures are drawn from official data in the 2006 national census and from small area population statistics." The spokesman pointed out that the statement set out comparative data on a range of issues, including population, age profile, occupational, social class, educational attainment, mode of transport and length of travel time. "It may be also worth noting that the socio-economic data shows a very high proportion of people in the Nobber area travelling less than 15 minutes to work, compared to others in Meath or the State, thereby indicting the importance of locally-based employment opportunities in Nobber," he said. Meanwhile, as the oral hearing into the planning application is due to start in Carrickmacross nest week, Deputy Shane McEntee expressed disappointment that Bord Pleanala has refused to consider rescheduling the proposed hearing. He pointed out that the original date set for this hearing was 6th October and all of those involved arranged their legal and expert representation for this date, but on 24th September, a letter was issued stating the date was being postponed by a week in order to 'ensure attendance of all expert witnesses on behalf of the applicant.' He said this amounted to 12 days' notice and put locals in a position where they could not arrange to have all of their expert witnesses present. He had written to the board looking to have a compromise date set, but this was refused. "I do not understand why the board 'cannot' accede to my request to facilitate a consultation amongst the parties to agree a date and venue suitable to all. I think this could possibly be re-phrased as 'will not'. It would seem to me to be the fairest thing to do. I am worried that this inaction by Bord Pleanála could be interpreted as being biased towards one side over the other. There is already a local perception that this is the case," he said.