To close St Mary's Secondary School, Brollagh would be kill the community. This is the stark message from one of the School's longest serving teacher.

At just 20, Marie Brady, who is now retired, joined the school in its' fledgling years back in 1967. Brollagh had only been open for two years when Marie joined the team of 10 teachers. It was then lead by Johnny Gilligan, with John J Treacy as vice-principal. Fresh out of University College Dublin, the Garrison native was delighted to secure a job so close to home and to join a team of teachers of whom all but one came from the Garrison/Belleek area.

Mrs Brady recalled "At that stage they were only putting together their quota of teachers, and didn't have a language teacher. I taught French and Religion, and that's how I got the job."

Coming from Garrison, Mrs Brady is well aware of the impact on the whole area of Brollagh's opening : "It was a whole new experience, and an exciting time. Secondary schools were only just coming on stream at the time and to get the opportunity to teach so close to home was fantastic.

Not only was Brollagh offering children an education on their own doorstep, but it also provided much needed employment in the rural area: "It was a very important time for the whole community."

So, having been with St Mary's since the early days, Mrs Brady knows it is a very different place to what it was back in the late 60's.

Quizzed about the changes she witnessed during her time in the School, Mrs Brady replied: "That's a broad question. Initially, the children would have been very rural children, they would have been what you would have expected from rural children, they would have been very polite, well-mannered, respectful and very happy children really.

"Then, over the years as more people came to live in Belleek and Garrison, the mix would have become more what you would have expected from an urban school. By the 80's a lot of the children were quite urbanised," she recalled.

"It probably did help the school in one way, but then there were all sorts of other influences coming on board as well. They were more into television and all that, they were more savvy I suppose, there were generally more influences in their lives."

Mrs Brady explained that an integral part of what Brollagh offers is continuity, with generations of families relying on it for education: "The children I would have had in the first five or six years were back to me as parents of the next generation. And that's what it is all about."

St Mary's also benefited from having a batch of young and enthusiastic teachers and their belief in the school stretched far outside the classroom. They also put their efforts into establishing a Youth Club in the School in 1967/68. It offered a place of entertainment and socialising not only for Brollagh pupils, but also to all children in the area.

Mrs Brady is forthright on what the closure of St Mary's would do to the area: "You close Brollagh and you kill the community. It will have an absolutely devastating effect on the whole area."

And she is angry at the timing of the announcement that the School is under threat: "I really don't understand why in advance of deciding what to do about the 11 plus, they are going down this road. Ideally, what I would have liked to have seen is, if the 11 plus had ceased to be, all the children in the community would have all gone to Brollagh up until they were 14.

"After that, they would make the decision on whether to go to a grammar school or follow a vocational route or whatever. That would have been the ideal solution."

And the former teacher urged everyone to make their views heard during the consultation process: "It's vital that people fight to keep what is the heart of the community alive."

Mrs Brady spent her entire teaching career in Brollagh where she attained the position of vice-principal. She retired in 2001. And her dedication to the school is surely proof, if it were needed, that this is a happy place to work and a good school to learn in.