Works are finally expected to commence in the autumn on the provision of a new €14 million school for Presentation College Athenry at a greenfield site on the outskirts of the town.
Planning permission for the new facility – on what is known locally as the Raheen Woods site – was granted and the tendering process is already well advanced.
There was opposition from the IDA to the school going ahead at this location. The 20 site is located beside extensive IDA-owned lands which were purchased from Teagasc in recent years.
When a new Pres secondary school was being mooted, the Department of Education confirmed that the IDA had concerns in relation to the development because of the “potential impact on enterprise development”.
This sparked a lot of local anger as the school, with more than 1,100 students on its roll, is currently bursting at the seams and is using 25 prefabricated buildings in addition to its existing premises, which was designed in the 1980s for 400 students and has no outdoor playing facilities.
But now Minister Sean Canney, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works, has said he expects work on a new school to start by next September as the tendering process is now well advanced.
Minister Canney has confirmed that he also expects the preferred bidder to be selected by the late summer. A new building for a 1,000 plus student school is part of an overall plan by the Department of Education to relocate four schools in Athenry town.
“The tendering process is well advanced and I expect the contractor to be appointed by the late summer with the preferred bidder likely to be on site by this coming September”.
“The news is very welcome as delays and frustrations have unfortunately been part and parcel of a long running saga surrounding this project.
“I am delighted to note that progressing of the tendering process is the first major step in providing the new school building that is so earnestly needed for the pupils, parents and teachers in Athenry”, added Minister Canney.
The new building will be two storeys in height, with a linked single storey sports facility as well as on-site parking. The school will be located on a site already owned by the school, opposite the Raheen Woods Hotel.
Local FG councillor Peter Feeney said that it was a much needed development and would provide essential parking and playing pitches for the students.
“It is brilliant news for the town and the students as they are currently operating in very cramped conditions. I am led to believe that the new school will be completed by the end of 2018,” Cllr Feeney added.
Around eight years ago Presentation College in Athenry acquired a 20 acre site for the provision of a new school – it is situated close to IDA-owned lands and the authority have expressed concerns over its impact on enterprise development.
The Department were intent on lodging a planning application around that but the process was stalled when it became known that the IDA were likely to lodge an objection.
Department officials spent a lot of time trying to acquire an alternative site and the options were a seven acre site on the Tuam Road beside a Community Council-owned pitch and a four acre site, which was deemed much too small to accommodate a school with a student population in excess of 1,100.
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