A MOTHER has said the suspected arson attack on Arvalee Special School in Omagh has left her two children devastated.
The blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning, destroyed three-quarters of the school which has over 100 pupils.
As staff at the school continued in their search for alternative teaching accommodation on Monday, Caroline Garrity – a mother of two pupils at Arvalee – said she broke down in tears when she heard that the school had been destroyed.
“We are just in bits over this news, that school means the world to my two children,” she told the News Letter yesterday.
Her children Hannah, 12, and 10-year-old Dylan both have learning disabilities and have been attending the school since the age of four.
“When I was told that their school was burned I just cried my eyes out.
“I had to take my wee boy Dylan up to the school to show him what had happened to it. He still doesn’t really understand but both him and Hannah are devastated that they won’t be going to their school.
“The pair of them should have been going along today, they were looking forward so much to their first day back after the summer holidays, but now we don’t know what is going to happen.”
She said the school was a “vital part” of the children’s lives.
“For kids like my two, that school means everything to them. It is not only just a school, it is a big part of their lives.
“That is where all their friends are, they don’t really socialise outside of their school.
“Because of their special needs they really need a routine and now that has been destroyed – and I am really worried just what kind of an impact that will have on them with the whole upheaval and uncertainty.”
Caroline said she was “shocked” that the fire was being treated as suspected arson.
“That makes it worse, harder to take. It is one thing to have the school destroyed but to think that someone started the fire, well, that’s sick.
“I would like whoever did this to take a look at what this has done to my two kids and all the children at the school. Do they know the destruction they have caused.”
She added: “The staff at Arvalee are just fantastic, the work they do with the children is brilliant, and it is terrible for them too that the school is destroyed now, I don’t know how they must be feeling.”
Principal Jonathan Gray is expected to meet with parents of children at the school today to outline plans for alternative teaching accommodation.
On Sunday, Mr Gray said: “The school itself is 75 per cent destroyed by the fire. The resources that were prepared for the children starting on Monday have been destroyed, so we’re gutted where that’s concerned.”
SDLP councillor Josephine Deehan said there was a “deep sense of shock” at what had happened.
“Your heart goes out to the children, their parents and the staff at the school. Arvalee is a such a vital resource in Omagh and the damage which this fire has caused is a real tragedy,” said councillor Deehan.
The PSNI appealed for a number of people who were noted to be in the area at the time to come forward.
A police statement said: “In particular [detectives] would like to speak with two males seen pushing a wheelbarrow in the vicinity of the Hospital Road. The older male had long dark hair and a beard.”
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