Students sent home from Coláiste Uisce over knife incident
Two students from an exclusive fee-paying school were sent home from an Irish college this summer after an incident involving threatening behaviour with a knife.
At least one of the students was found to have a knife which he had brought from home to the Mayo college.
Both boys had been attending the water sports Irish college, Coláiste Uisce, which is based in Belmullet, Co Mayo. According to sources familiar with the incident, one threatened the other with a knife in the dormitory style accommodation provided by the college.
The authorities at Uisce were alerted and it was discovered that the weapon had been brought to the college from the boy’s home. It is unclear why the second student was also sent home. “It wasn’t a penknife or Stanley knife,” said one source. “It was the real thing”.
Parents of other students, who were billeted close to the two boys in question, were informed of the incident soon after in case anybody had been traumatised by it.
The understands that the Dublin school the boys attend has been told about the incident. At the time of going to press no response to queries had been received from the school.
A number of detailed questions about the incident were put to Coláiste Uisce.
Ciaran O’Murchu, who runs the college, declined to respond. “I regret to inform you that I simply cannot comment on any matters which might relate to any student(s) in our Colaiste,” he stated by email.
Uisce offers a two-week course for €920 but has the additional attraction of extensive watersports. On its website, it states that the fee covers “14 nights accommodation, 4 meals a day, Irish classes, water activities, land sports, evening activities and 24hr supervision”.
