Coláiste Ráithín opening delayed again
COLÁISTE RÁITHIN students were told on Monday that they would not be coming back to school on Tuesday morning as expected.
Certification to confirm building and safety standards had not been received in time for yes- terday’s expected opening date. In a statement yesterday, Wicklow County Council said that it has now received pre-certification.
One parent said that she was not surprised by the most recent delay.
The school now plans to open next Monday.
A PARENT with a child attending Coláiste Ráithín in Bray has expressed her frustration at yet another delay in moving to their new building.
Families have now been told that they there will be no school until Monday. Children were expecting to start their term in the new school building yesterday (Tuesday) morning.
‘ They were originally due back on Monday,’ said the mother. ‘It was changed on Friday last to Tuesday. We’ve been told they’ll be back to the new school on Monday.
‘It’s happened so often that I half expected it. I’d still be surprised if it’s Monday.
‘It’s better this way at the end of the holidays than mid-year. But how long can it actually continue? It’s absolutely ridiculous and there is no regard for the school kids.’
She said that her child was looking forward to actually seeing the inside of the new school, but was otherwise delighted to have an extra few days of summer holidays.
The school was built by UK company Carillion which collapsed earlier this year.
Certification to confirm building and safety standards had not been received in time for yesterday’s expected opening date. While certification was not ready for adjacent primary school Ravenswell either, staff there had planned to start the year in their old building and move to the new building at a later date.
Wicklow County Council said yesterday in a statement that it had received pre-certification.
Coláiste Ráithín staff had been moving items to the new building over the past week.
Minor pieces of work had yet to be completed to satisfy certifiers who were at the school on Monday.
The consortium Inspiredspaces, which owns the building, is responsible for providing certification to the council.
According to the Department of Education, they expect certification to be complete this week for Coláiste Ráithín, followed by Ravenswell shortly after that.
Another school in the bundle, the Loreto in Wexford, has received certification and classes are due to start there tomorrow (Thursday).
A number of unpaid subcontractors have not provided certification for their works. The Construction Industry Federation had previously expressed concern that the buildings could be certified.
The Department of Education said in a statement that relevant documen- tation for the majority of construction works had been received before the projects were halted by the collapse of Carillion. The construction company Sammon also collapsed following Carillion’s demise. The Department said that Sammon’s replacement, Woodvale, was required to ensure certification could be issued.
Last month, a High Court injunction forced subcontractors to stop picketing at schools over non-payment of money owed to them.
The collapsed UK company, Carillion, was a 50 per cent shareholder in Inspiredspaces. The remaining partner is a Dutch company called the Dutch Infrastructure Fund ( DIF).
Labour’s election canddidate for Wicklow Jack OO’Connor said that students going into Junior and Leaving Cert years will feel particularly stressed out at the delay.
‘I cannot understand why the certification of the building wasn’t carried out in a timely manner,’ he said. ‘ There had been great excitement in the school community that at long last the door could be closed on Coláiste Ráithín’s 20-year campaign for a new school building and instead we are finding out that the door to the school itself remains closed.
‘I would urge the Minister for Education to personally intervene to ensure that the certification of the building is completed.’
“They were originally due back Monday. It was changed on Friday last to Tuesday.... It’s happened so often that I half-expected it”