Heads in sand over 'grannying'

Families are said to have given false addresses to the school

A judicial review into 'grannying' in Londonderry has been told that a board of governors knew that families were giving false addresses.

A barrister for two of the three children taking the case said the board put "its head in the sand".

He argued that the girls should have been given places at St Cecilia's College ahead of those living in Donegal but who gave Derry addresses.

The review is to rule if a duty exists to find out if addresses were false.

The barrister said that was not a matter of employing a private investigator but of making basic checks.

Lawyers for the school said they rely on primary schools for information on addresses and in any case it is very difficult to prove if they are genuine.

The barrister for the Western Education and Library Board and the Department of Education said the school was well aware it should not have offered places to pupils when they had exceeded their quota and that the Board's appeal tribunal could not be expected to know about false addresses.

Meanwhile, Catriona Ruane is refusing to disclose if the school she sends her children to is oversubscribed with pupils.

The education minister and her family live in County Louth but her children go to school across the border in Newry, County Down.