A new school for 2019
IT wasn’t just back to school after the holidays for the students of Coláiste Chú Chulainn, it was back to a brand new school.
Students returning after the Christmas break were welcomed to the new school building which had been handed over to Louth Meath Educational and Training Board by Louth County Council just before Christmas, having previously shared the adjoining Coláiste Lu building since September.
The new school provides general classrooms for the students who share state of the art specialist classrooms including two home economics rooms, science labs, woodwork room, computer and technology rooms and art studio and a special education needs unit with students from the Irish language Coláiste Lu.
The students also have access to excellent sports facilities on the joint campus including a gym, three basketball courts and three soccer pitches as well as a full sized Gaelic football field.
At the moment there are 520 students enrolled in the two schools with capacity for further growth as they have been designed to accommodate 1,100 students.
The two new schools were originally supposed to open in September 2014 but work was delayed by issues surrounding ownership of the land and by a legal challenge taken by residents from nearby Bishop’s Court in relation to the local of an ESB sub station. The two schools operated from temporary accommodation in the old ESB offices in Chapel Street, with Coláiste Chú Chulainn moving to the former Marist College as numbers grew.
The schools are situated on a ten acre campus which also includes a public park/ playground facing onto the roundabout leading into The Marshes which will be opened in the coming weeks.