WATCH Protestors in Limerick call for a stop to Special Needs Assistant (SNA) cuts

A protest against Special Needs Assistant (SNA) cuts took place outside Limerick City and County Council offices to campaign against the original proposal by Government to adjust how SNA posts are allocated on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. Picture: Anastasiia Lapko/ilovelimerick

A large group of protestors gathered at the Limerick City and County Council building, Merchant’s Quay to call for a stop to Special Needs Assistant cuts under a paused review by Government

A group of protestors called for a stop to Special Needs Assistant (SNA) cuts at a demonstration at Limerick City and County Council offices at Merchant’s Quay on Wednesday, February 25.

The protestors gathered despite the Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton, putting a pause on the reviews of SNA allocations, which are not now to take effect until 2027/2028, with protestors calling for a complete stop to the review in place of a pause, to prevent a process that could see SNAs reassigned to different schools or left without work.

Marie Galligan, an SNA and mother to 14-year-old Adam, was among the protestors, saying the current circular is outdated and focused on medical care needs, meaning some children without physical disabilities or medical requirements may not qualify for SNA support. Marie fears families and staff of neurodiverse children are bearing the brunt of decisions they did not create.

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Marie told I Love Limerick, “ I’m here today, involved in this protest, because we want SNA cuts to stop. We want the circular to be looked at, and we want every child to have access to the support they need in the school environment. The purpose of this Circular is to advise schools of arrangements for the allocation of special needs assistant (SNA) support to mainstream classes in primary and post primary schools for the 2025/26 school year.”

Among calls of “SOS save our SNAs” and “No child left behind”, Marie said, “ The circular is totally outdated. It goes back to medical care needs, and there are a lot of children that are not entitled to SNA access due to the fact that they don’t have any physical disability, or they don’t have any medical care needs.”

If teachers are left solely responsible for regulating entire classes, she said, disruption could increase, and valuable teaching time could be lost, impacting all pupils. Marie added, “Every child deserves the right to education and with the right support around them. They’ll thrive in society. It affects every child, not just the neurotypical or the neurodivergent. If an SNA is removed from a classroom and it’s a teacher’s sole job to look after children and try to regulate everyone in the classroom, there’s going to be a lot of disruption. It will affect every single child.”

A petition has been set up on Change.org calling for a “Stop the cull of Special Needs Assistants – Protect Ireland’s Most Vulnerable Pupils”, with the petition saying, “We are calling on the Department of Education to urgently reconsider and reverse decisions that reduce SNA allocations in schools.

“By maintaining and expanding SNA support, we can ensure that all children have the opportunity to thrive in a supportive and inclusive learning environment. We must protect the rights of students with special needs and commit to providing them with the resources they require to succeed.”

Photos: Anastasiia Lapko/ilovelimerick