Thread by @RENUAIreland

Minister of Education @NormaFoleyTD1 must clarify her extraordinary assertion on @RTE_PrimeTime that secondary school children who don't wear masks in school will be "sent home" @downesr #rtept #Covid19Ireland

Her own @Education_Ire guidelines online are unequivocal: "It is not practical for students to wear masks properly for the duration of a school day"
Has the Minister read her own guidelines? @merrionstreet @fiannafailparty #BackToSchool

Sending a child home is a de facto suspension. NEWB handbook for schools (supplied to every school in Ireland) draws on Education Act 1998 & Education (Welfare) Act 2000. Suspension is only to be imposed in "exceptional circumstances" but due process & natural justice must apply.

"Inappropriate use of suspension" in context of school's Code of Behaviour. If minor, doesn't warrant sending home. Not wearing a mask breaks new ground. Is this "dangerous behaviour"? But you don't wear a mask in e.g. restaurants. And no school in Ireland has mask wearing in COB

What if a child still refuses to wear a mask on their return to school? Sent home again? Rolling suspensions are bad practice and subject to Section 29 appeals. This is a can of worms. @ylimelogan @ChildRightsIRL

What is the statutory basis for claiming face masks are compulsory in Irish secondary schools? Legislation covers public transport, shops. Not schools. Who will stand up for the kids? @IrishCentreHR @_IHREC @ICCLtweet @IrishEducation

Enough is enough. Children are suffering from months of #lockdown #socialdistancing #Covid19Ireland restrictions. The idea that a cohort at almost zero risk could be forced to mask or go home is tantamount to child abuse.

@astiunion @VoiceforTeacher @JMB_Secretariat @OCO_ireland @NPCpp @rtenews @LeoVaradkar @FineGael

@VirginMediaNews @TodaywithClaire @morningireland @jonathanhealy @PatKennyNT @astiunion
@carlobrien @emma_okelly

BBC2 Newsnight, 24/8/2020. Prof Russell Viner, Great Ormonde St hospital & Britain's most senior paediatrician, member of SAGE Covid19 response committee refuses to recommend mask wearing for children in secondary schools #Covid19Ireland #backtoschool

https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1298021228146495492?s=20

@cpkeenaIT @johnmcmanus @IrishTimesLaura @PatLeahyIT @McConnellDaniel @SiCarswell @orlaryan @christinafinn8 @TUIunion

@IanBegley_ @CormacMcQuinn @DavQuinn @cormacbourke @AmyMolloyIndo @shanephelanindo @SamanthaLibreri @gabysayshey @john_mcguirk

Silence from Irish MSM & human rights NGOs re: @NormaFoleyTD1 extrajudicial threat #rtept to send kids home for not wearing masks in school!
Voice of the Child trumped by Career of the Politician.

@threadreaderapp unroll

6 in ICU, 22 in hospital out of 4.98 million ppl #Covid19Ireland
Now @fiannafailparty @ronan_glynn @DonnellyStephen want Soviet movement laws, making @GardaTraffic a Stasi compliance force.
This is deeply troubling #holdfirm