Mum who 'crashed' Taoiseach's lunch still waiting for school space for autistic son

EXCLUSIVE: Sabrina Hannon told the Irish Mirror that while the Taoiseach’s team has emailed, she has not heard anything from Mr Harris despite initially having a “glimmer of hope” that he would be able to solve the issue

A heartbroken mother who “crashed” Taoiseach Simon Harris’ lunch and asked for help securing a school place for her autistic son is still anxiously awaiting an update.

Sabrina Hannon told the Irish Mirror that while the Taoiseach’s team has emailed, she has not heard anything from Mr Harris despite initially having a “glimmer of hope” that he would be able to solve the issue.

Josh, 6, from Clonmel, has “moderate to severe” autism and has “quite a high learning difficulty”. He is also non-verbal. His brother Ryan, 16, is also on the spectrum.

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Sabrina and her husband William, have “basically had to pay for everything” themselves for Josh, including an Assessment of Need.

He attended a preschool for children with autism for two years. He “loved it” and “turned into a different child” during his time in the facility.

Another assessment carried out found that Josh required a space in a special school and the family’s lives were “turned upside down” in January when they were informed there was no space for Josh in two local schools. Ms Hannon continued to contact the Department of Education and the National Council For Special Education (NCSE).

On August 30, the Hannon family “crashed” a lunch being attended by the Taoiseach when he was in Clonmel.

“He sat there with us and saw the struggles,” Ms Hannon told the Irish Mirror.

“He saw that we weren't making this up. He sat with us and basically said, ‘It's a disgrace that this is happening and I'm so sorry’.

“He was very empathetic about our situation. I left that restaurant and I actually cried.

“I said to my husband, ‘Oh my God, has someone actually just listened to us? Have we found that one person that's actually going to help my son?’

“We walked out of there with this absolute glimmer of hope. Three weeks later, nothing.

The Irish Mirror has seen several emails swapped between Ms Hannon and Mr Harris’ team. This included one email on September 13 from the Taoiseach’s adviser saying they were “continuing to liaise with the Department of Education”.

On September 6, they wrote: “The Taoiseach has asked that I let you know we are still working on this issue for Josh.”

Ms Hannon continued: “It’s so easy to get your adviser to send these emails. Mr Harris hasn’t personally reached out. Telling me you’re thinking about us is not ok.

“You can't sit there with a family and see their struggles and see how hard things are and then just get your advisers to say, ‘We're thinking of you’.

“I'm not looking for him to come down and shake my hand and hug me. It would just be nice to come away and think, ‘We felt he was very empathetic. We were right and he went and moved heaven and earth for us. He got Josh a place in school.’

“But it hasn’t [happened yet].”

Asked about Josh’s case by the Irish Mirror on Friday, the Taoiseach said he was not happy with how he has been treated.

“I had an excellent meeting in a cafe in Clonmel with Sabrina, Sabrina’s husband, Josh and Josh's brother,” he said.

“I don't want to talk too much about their personal circumstances, but [they are] a beautiful, regular family trying to go about their business of getting their child a school place and a constitutional right that their child has.

“I'm utterly dissatisfied as to how Josh has been treated.

“I do think the passing of the buck that goes on from one school to another school or one agency of the State to another isn't acceptable.

“I am continuing to work, as is my office, in relation to Josh's situation and I am very much aware of it.”

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