A fresh row has erupted over mixed-gender bathrooms in secondary schools, with one mother claiming the situation has left young girls feeling ‘vulnerable’ and ‘intimidated’.

Last week, the Irish Daily Mail revealed an Educate Together secondary school in Dublin’s Harold’s Cross had introduced a new toilet layout without consulting parents or students.

The 1,000-student school moved into a new four-storey building last week in which male and female students must share a common sink area next to the toilets.

The Mail obtained photos showing gender-neutral cubicles with both male and female symbols on the doors.

Now, a mother of a student at Greystones Community College has described her concerns about a similar situation at her school.

The Co. Wicklow woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Mail yesterday that the 700-student school, which her daughter attends, moved into a new building in February and parents were only made aware the bathrooms would be mixed gender two weeks prior.

‘She was really upset when she heard all of this about the change and then saw the photographs. One of the reasons is just being intimidated by boys just standing in the same bathroom areas as them,’ she said.

‘The boys don’t have to do anything – it’s through no fault of their own – but you feel more vulnerable just by nature of being in a toilet setting so they were uncomfortable.

‘The boys don’t have to do anything – it’s through no fault of their own – but you feel more vulnerable just by nature of being in a toilet setting so my daughter was uncomfortable.’ 

‘My daughter is 14 and could be in the bathroom with an 18-year-old man.’

The toilets block of the building is open to the corridors ‘to remove the risk of bullying in the school environment’, as per Department of Education guidelines for all newly built secondary schools.

The guidelines, published in April 2021, named ‘SDG 02-06 Sanitary Facilities’ state that toilets, changing rooms and showers are among school areas that ‘may be the location of verbal, psychological and physical bullying’.

‘The behaviour of pupils in those areas requires careful monitoring through passive supervision,’ it adds.

Floor plans submitted to Wicklow County Council for planning permission in February 2022 show bathrooms were laid out in the more traditional style, not open to the hallway.

Plans show two bathroom areas on the ground and one on the first floor, although there is no marking to indicate which gender they were intended for and none of the facilities featured urinals.

The Greystones mother said: ‘The other part that my daughter and her friends were upset about was sanitary products are available on display in front of the lads.

‘If they run out [of sanitary products] while on their periods, they have to take one in full view of whoever is there.

The gender-neutral toilets at the school in Harold’s Cross have sparked controversy

‘It happened to one of my daughter’s friends the other day, and she was crying when she got back to class because there was a group of guys around. Regardless of whether teenage boys are trying to be rude or insensitive, their presence alone can make self-conscious teenage girls uneasy.’

Her daughter is ‘terrified of being ostracised if she kicks up a fuss’, she said.

‘I’ve been in contact with the school over email and they say it’s perfectly safe in a toilet area [cubicle] that’s floor-to-ceiling. But it’s more than just going to the toilet. It’s about a safe space where there are other girls, not just a cubicle. You can’t get a moment to yourself all day where you aren’t being observed,’ she added.

The Mail contacted the school and the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board for comment on Thursday. No response was received.