A STATE school objected to a new Irish language nursery claiming it was "inappropriate" to fund non-compulsory education.
Minister Peter Weir approved a proposal to establish a statutory Irish-medium nursery unit at Gaelscoil Éanna in Glengormley.
Based in the grounds of St Enda's GAC in Newtownabbey, Naíscoil Éanna has flourished since its inception in 2004. It operates as a voluntary playgroup at present.
The decision was praised by campaigners as "heralding the dawn of a new era for young children".
Just one letter of objection was received during the consultation period - from the state-controlled Mossley PS, whose governors include a Church of Ireland minister and former UUP assembly member Fraser Agnew.
Within the context of budgetary cutbacks, the school said, "it would be inappropriate to be undertaking the capital development of any non-compulsory provision".
The letter from the governors added that "any capital project would lead to consequential misappropriation of recurrent expenditure".
"It will either divert financial resources from existing provision to alternative provision and cause further cutbacks in staffing levels, loss of development and raise questions of viability etc. or else, non-compulsory provision will be expanded with the requirement that additional financial resources are redirected to meet this need," it added.
All pre-school education in the north is non-compulsory. While places are in-demand every year, parents have no legal right to a nursery place for their children.
Canon Neil Cutcliffe from the Church of the Holy Spirit in Newtownabbey was chairman of the board governors for the last 18 years.
He said the opposition to the plan was solely to do with concerns about funding.
It is hoped the change of status and the development of Naíscoil Éanna will also ensure the long-term viability of the gaelscoil.
Niall Ó Murchú, founder member of Gaelscoil Éanna and chairman of the board of governors, said the nursery unit was important for the community "not only from an educational point of view but it will also play a significant social and cultural role".
"We are now beginning to yield empirical evidence that we provide an exceptional educational experience for our pupils and our aim is to continue to endow our children with these most important learning tools for later life, as well as the cultural enrichment that is imbued with the language immersion technique of teaching, that will afford them a unique and enhanced outlook on 21st century life," he said.
