New Substack. What the new SNA circular reveals about policy planning and Department responses to political pressure #edchatie open.substack.com/pub/ciararei...

What the new SNA Circular reveals about policy planning and Department responses to political pressure

The debate around the new SNA circular (published yesterday) has largely focused on the changing role of Special Needs Assistants.

open.substack.com

A dunkin' like you wouldn't believe. Psychiatrists’ body ‘cannot endorse’ new State autism protocol www.irishtimes.com/health/2026/...

Psychiatrists’ body ‘cannot endorse’ new State autism protocol

Approach will ‘streamline’ access to autism diagnoses, HSE says

irishtimes.com

Ten Things Teachers Should Understand About The New Autism Protocol #edchatie open.substack.com/pub/ciararei...

Not half as difficult as being disabled in Irish society is Taoiseach

The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · 6mo ago

Bringing in cost-of-disability payment is ‘complex’, Taoiseach tells Dáil

🗳️ By-election tallies LIVE! 🚨 🔵 Dublin Central bit.ly/DublinCentral26 🟣 Galway West bit.ly/GalwayWest26 Updates here throughout the day(s)!

New Substack on these new "inclusive" autism classes and what we learned from the AsIAm/NCSE webinar last night. #edchatie open.substack.com/pub/ciararei...

A model being built in real time

(with children inside it as it happens)

open.substack.com

Latest figures show another increase in record numbers in emergency accommodation - 17,517 at the end of March. The figure is up over 2000 since the same period last year, while more than half of the increase in March 2026 is children, perhaps reflecting impact of tenancy reforms

Another round of PQs submitted and the absolute word salad that came back... it would nearly be impressive if it wasn’t so infuriating. You can spend hours crafting something precise and thoughtful, and what you get in return is a generic, copy-and-paste fog that sidesteps every single point.

I only launched this last night at 9pm and I’m almost at €2k. I’m blown away. This supports children who deserve happy, fulfilling school days. For them, school is their only State support, and their teachers and SNAs/ANAs make each day better. Every euro makes that experience happier. Thank you. ❤️

Ciara Reilly@primedteacher.bsky.social · 7mo ago

If you can donate, even a little, it would mean so much. And if you’ve ever taken anything from my writing or advocacy, this is a very real way to support it in action. Thank you ❤️ Ciara (and Doireann) (3/3) www.gofundme.com/f/a-2026-lap...

THREAD: Like so many parents, we spend a lot of time fundraising for the services and advocates who support our child. For me, the Mini Marathon is for my daughter’s incredible autism class. I’m lacing up again this June to raise funds for her school. (1/3)

Other Government ministers will be asked to find €446m in efficiencies and other reforms this year, to pay for extra funding for the Department of Education. That Department is today being given €646m in extra cash to cover rising costs in Special Ed, with €200m ‘new’ cash and the rest in savings

Delighted to have had my article published in @irisheducationalstudies www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Rethinking early reading intervention policy in Ireland: evaluating the case for moving beyond Reading Recovery?

Early reading development is critical for long-term academic success, highlighting the need for timely and effective intervention for children with reading difficulties. This paper critically exami...

tandfonline.com

We’re going live on the other place (🤳) this Sunday at 8pm, on the AsIAm page. I’ll share my bit from an educator’s perspective, but as always, the voices that matter most are our autistic panellists, who’ll be sharing their experiences to help us all learn, reflect, and avoid ableism. Join us.

As a mother of two and a teacher of 29, I see every day how we’ve made childhood and the lives of children smaller, harder, and poorer than it needs to be; not through inevitability, but through a lack of imagination, care, and any real interest in doing better for children in this country.

The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · 7mo ago

‘Massive numbers’ of creches across Dublin lying unused and unusable, committee hears

Another day, another announcement dressed up as progress. Bigger classes. No clear resourcing. And a name that raises more questions than answers. New Substack here: ciarareillylecturer.substack.com/p/a-new-auti... #edchatie

A “new” autism class model raises old questions

Another day, another press release.

ciarareillylecturer.substack.com

🚨 Michael Healy-Rae resigns as junior minister and will vote no confidence

The WhatsApp line for #MondayGR is open now - we’re all ears for your comments on the fuel supports, the demos, the disruption, the government’s response and whatever comes next! ➡️ wa.me/353896074218

a man talking into a microphone with the words what do we wanna talk about written below him

ALT: a man talking into a microphone with the words what do we wanna talk about written below him

media.tenor.com

New Morning Ireland jingle alert.

And a left and green alternative look on, wondering how an electorate can be so quick to forget (or so willing to forgive!) for some but never them.

Ciara Reilly@primedteacher.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The very lads with the chests out now, convinced they’ve shown them, will be the same ones walking into polling stations in November 2029 and calmly putting a big number 1 beside the very party they were tearing apart in the residents’ WhatsApp.

The very lads with the chests out now, convinced they’ve shown them, will be the same ones walking into polling stations in November 2029 and calmly putting a big number 1 beside the very party they were tearing apart in the residents’ WhatsApp.

FF&FG represent a cohort, but in trying to remain everything to that group (and avoid being anything that might cost them broader support) they’ve made themselves politically shapeless. Malleable to the point of meaninglessness. Shifting on any issue, and in doing so, standing firmly for nothing.

Irish politics! We’re political party A & B. Our decisions are landing badly and causing real frustration. But we’re not *them*. That is enough. Enough to pivot, to U-turn, to try something, drop it, and move on, all on the assumption that, when it comes down to it, you won’t risk voting for others.

At some point, we have to ask what the mandate actually is. Reality is, they’re only in power because the electorate isn’t ready for a Sinn Féin government. They’re in because they aren't them, and can retreat on decisions on a whim. We are governed on whatever is acceptable… until it's not.

Ciara Reilly@primedteacher.bsky.social · 7mo ago

How many times in this government’s lifetime can it govern *exactly as it said it would* (in line with its own policies, the ones people voted for!) only to roll it all back the moment public pressure lands? SNA issue the perfect example. Now this.

How many times in this government’s lifetime can it govern *exactly as it said it would* (in line with its own policies, the ones people voted for!) only to roll it all back the moment public pressure lands? SNA issue the perfect example. Now this.

Some women lose their men to the Masters. I have lost my man to a Hugarian general election AND the Masters.

a screenshot of a spreadsheet showing the wrap text option in the upper left corner

ALT: a screenshot of a spreadsheet showing the wrap text option in the upper left corner

media.tenor.com

Resharing this because (a) apparently the Insta version “is going viral within government” (folks, have you maybe considered trying to explain this yourselves?) and (b) it illustrates how hard it will be to offer some other tangible costcutting that can convince the blockades to stand down

Gavan Reilly@gavreilly.com · 7mo ago

Just worth saying, for absolutely legal clarity: the government does not have the legal prerogative to abolish carbon tax in its entirety. Carbon tax is a form of excise, and EU directives require excise on diesel to be a minimum of 33c per litre. (1/2)

As we await what happens next, my thoughts on the blockades and the big feelings attached. ciarareillylecturer.substack.com/p/when-the-m...

When the men start crying

Just a reminder, in case you’re struggling a bit this morning.

ciarareillylecturer.substack.com

You can probably support the working class and demand support for people who are struggling because of capitalist inequality and also not pretend massively bigoted rhetoric and action isn't happening or being Trojan-horsed in under the guise of taking down those in power, by the way. Just a thought.

A quick look at social media and live streams showing all the anti immigrant, anti IPAS, anti trans crew all over the blockades spinning rubbish re climate crisis etc.