NEW LORETO WILL NOT OPEN UNTIL END OF AUGUST
THE new Loreto Secondary School in Wexford is to open by the end of August in time for the next school year following months of delays caused by the collapse of construction giant Carillion.
‘We’re hoping we will be given possession of the school in June with all our arrangements in place by the end of August,’ said Principal Billy O’Shea following a meeting between the State’s National Development Finance Agency and Carillion’s former partner in the venture - Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF) and representatives of the six schools affected by the collapse.
‘It has been a long time coming, but to be honest, it’s more important to look at the positive side. No-one wanted Carillion to collapse, but it did happen and we fully understand the processes that have to be gone through and all the work that has been done behind the scenes,’ Mr O’Shea told this newspaper. A tender has been awarded for the completion of the small amount of work that is outstanding, with the work due to take place within the next few weeks.
‘We now have a clear process and timeframe and the whole mood here is quite upbeat and positive. We will see out what remains of the term here at Spawell Road, ready for the move in August.’
Mr O’Shea said two temporary classrooms at the Spawell Road site, which had been provided by the Department of Education last September, had proved a godsend given the increased numbers of pupils at the school in anticipation of the move to the new site.
DIF told school representatives it was unable to say how long it would take to award the tender but that it was unlikely there would be physical progress on the projects until May.
The six schools involved - the Loreto, Coláiste Ráithin and St Philomena’s Primary school, Bray, Eureka Secondary School, Kells, and Tyndall College and the Institute of Further Education both in Carlow - were being built as part of a bundle under a Public Private Partnership agreement with an international consortium made up of Carillion and DIF.
The Wexford and Bray schools the buildings are virtually complete. The other buildings are around 90 per cent completed.
The new Loreto school, built on a greenfield site at Pembrokestown Hill, Killeens, had been due to open last January, after initial opening dates were pushed back.
The planned January handover and opening was cancelled at the last minute because of the Carillion collapse, with staff having to retrieve material they had already moved to the new building.