The construction of the new school building for Athlone Community College could provide much needed employment in the Athlone area, according to Deputy Mary O’Rourke.
Welcoming Tuesday’s news that Athlone Community College is among seven schools to be constructed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP ) programme, Deputy O’Rourke said the opportunity should also be taken to create local employment.
“It is very good news for Athlone, and it is just as important that the builder employs local people. There is so much unemployment, and I hope that whoever gets the contract will employ local people and help boost the local construction industry,” said the deputy.
Reacting with joy to the pre-Christmas announcement, Athlone Community College principal Val O’Connor said it was “very positive news” for the school community.
In fact, although discussions had been ongoing between the school, the VEC, and the Department of Education, the announcement this week still came earlier than expected.
“We were not expecting an announcement until the new year, so we are surprised and very pleased,” said Mr O’Connor.
The principal is now looking forward to the launch of the new school facilities, which are expected to be completed by 2012. “The school is in excellent condition and we keep it that way. But it is now 2008 and the school was built in 1974, and then there was an explosion in the numbers for secondary school. The new modern building will include modern labs, workshops, and state-of-the-art technology.”
With 850 students, Athlone Community College is currently full to capacity. However, it is proposed that the new building will accommodate 1,000 students.
The new school building for Athlone is one of seven schools nationally to benefit from the latest round of public private partnership projects, announced this week by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe. The new schools are to provide places for over 4,800 students across the country.
“I want to congratulate each school on their selection and I hope that construction work can begin as quickly as possible once all necessary steps have been taken in the PPP process.
“Stakeholder meetings will be held with each school early next year to detail the PPP procurement mechanism and the role of the individual schools in the bundled project,” said Minister O’Keeffe.
Cllr Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran paid tribute this week to the part played by Deputy O’Rourke in securing the commitment for Athlone Community College. “I welcome the news. It is something we have all been fighting for. Credit must go to Mary O’Rourke for her part in this,” said Cllr Moran.
Deputy Denis Naughten said that although the announcement had been “a long time coming”, he hoped it would now be expedited by the Department of Education.
“I am calling on the Minister to ensure that the patience of people in this area is rewarded and that this will not be a long, drawn-out process as has previously been the case.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge the hard work and commitment of both the parents’ association and the board of management, which has ensured this project has reached this stage,” he added.
Meanwhile Deputy James Bannon warned the Minister that this commitment during the festive season “is not just for Christmas” and must be honoured.
“According to the Minister, he hopes that construction can begin as quickly as possible once all necessary steps have been taken in the PPP process.
“This sounds a note of caution as the school has been side-tracked into assessment procedures on a number of occasions, despite the go-ahead having previously been given,” he said.
“Exciting and welcome as the news is, we must bear in mind and question the fact that this will see the new school being built six years after the initial selection to proceed to architectural planning process.”
