Move to new Loreto could be pushed to late February

THE EXACT date of the Loreto Secondary School’s move to its new building on Pembroke Hill, Killeens is still up in the air following the collapse of the UK building company Carillion last week.

Parents have been informed of uncertainty surrounding this week’s intended move and told that if it does not take place this week, it will not happen until February 19, following Mock exams and the midterm break. The Mocks are running from January 29 to February 9 with midterm the following week.

There has been a number of false dawns for the Loreto in the past few months with the original move date intended for November 2017. The date was subsequently pushed back twice and was supposed to go ahead on Wednesday of this week. However, given the recent developments with Carillion, one of the lead companies on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project, staff and students are faced with further uncertainty.

Speaking on Monday, school principal Billy O’Shea said that they were still waiting to hear if they could move into the new building. He explained that the students had attended orientation days in the new school last week and their reaction was very positive.

However, he pointed out that discussions had been ongoing between the Department of Education and the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) since last week in relation management of the building and facilities into the future. When asked if he expected the Wednesday move-in to go ahead as planned, he responded: ‘My honest answer is: I don’t know.’

He added: ‘It is definitely going to happen. We just need a little more time to get it over the line. Obviously we would like the uncertainty to be over but we have to have a small bit more patience and resilience. All of the mood music is positive.’

He said the PPP process was hugely detailed and made provision for the liquidation of a partner, adding that the Department and NDFA were having ‘very complex and detailed discussions’ on the matter. He added that they had been aware, from reading business news, of the concerns surrounding the UK company Carillion over the past 12 months.

‘We’re in the very, very lucky position whereby our building is virtually complete.’