ST PATRICK’S CAMPAIGN GOAL IS IN SIGHT FULL STORY PAGE 2
Tender to construct new €12m school is approved by Minister
CAMPAIGNERS FOR a new building for St Patrick’s Special School are one step closer to their goal this week as the tender to construct a new premises was approved by the Minister for Education and Skills.
The school, which has had a number of false dawns in the past, looks set to go to tender in the coming weeks with building, hopefully, beginning in September or Oc- tober. The €12m project, at a site in Drumgoold, would see the two separate sections of the school reunited under one roof.
School principal Lee Rogers was cautiously optimistic, saying that while the approval was great news, he was keen to see the project on the government tender website.
THERE WAS good news for St Patrick’s Special School last week as the Minister for Education and Skills confirmed that the tender to construct a new premises for the school has been approved.
St Patrick’s has been campaigning for the best part of 20 years for a new premises, since their junior and senior cycles had to split into two separate buildings in the early noughties. There have been, as school principal Lee Rogers said, many false dawns but this latest development is a very positive step in the right direction.
A cautiously optimistic Mr Rogers said that it was a case of ‘seeing is believing’ and while he welcomed the news, he said that seeing the tender going up on the government website would cement the good news in his mind. He pointed out that the tender process was expected to take about six to seven months and he estimated that building would begin in September of October.
The project is for a €12m purpose-built school on a site behind the Gaelscoil in Drumgoold, that would see the two separate sections of the school reunited again under the one roof. The project had originally been greenlit and work should have started on the site in February 2016 but the subsequent General Election and other issues pushed that development back.
‘ This campaign seems to be going on forever,’ said Mr Rogers, remarking that ‘We hit problem after problem in 2016 and it’s been over 700 days since construction should have started on the new school. We should have been moving in, in September 2017.’
Local TD, Fianna Fáil’s James Browne welcomed the news, having raised the issue in the Dáil in recent weeks. He vowed to maintain pressure on the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, to ensure that construction would begin before the end of the year.
He remarked: ‘ This is a long overdue development that will benefit the most vulnerable in our community. I welcome the fact that Minister Bruton has acted following persisting delays which left parents, teachers and students exasperated. Over 700 days ago, St Patrick’s were promised that the new school would be built.’
He praised the efforts of Mr Rogers, his staff and the Board of Management for their persistence in getting the school delivered, adding: ‘It’s vital that the Department of Education and Skills push ahead and ensure that no further delays affect the construction of the school.’