A demand for a new building for Scoil Chaitríona, Renmore, will be presented to the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, next week when she meets representatives of the school.
The meeting will take place on Thursday December 10, and has been arranged by Independent Galway West TD, Noel Grealish, at the request of Independent Galway City East councillor, Terry O’Flaherty. The meeting will also discuss the temporary accommodation which will be needed to house the school’s pupils while any new construction works are underway.
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It will be attended by the Minister for Education and her officials; the school principals and chairs of the boards of management; the Galway Diocesan Education Secretary; Cllr O’Flaherty; and Dep Grealish.
'The meeting will impress on the Minister the urgency of the situation and the need for a new school'
More than 800 children attend Scoil Chaitríona, with the majority of them being taught in pre-fabs, which, according to Cllr O'Flaherty have aged and fallen into disrepair. “It’s not acceptable," she said. "Hundreds of thousands of euro are being spent on upkeep of the current facilities and the maintenance of heating systems that are not energy efficient. It’s not fair that so many children and school staff should have to put up with these conditions."
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Plans for a replacement school were included in the then government’s Five Year Schools Building Programme in 2015, with its current status described as being at the 'Project Brief Stage' on the Department of Education website.
Cllr O’Flaherty said the lack of progress on this was disappointing and she said the meeting will impress on the Minister the "urgency of the situation and the need for a new school".
The former Galway Airport terminal had initially been considered as a possible temporary alternative while any new school was being built, but this was ruled out as being unsuitable. Cllr O'Flaherty subsequently arranged a meeting with the manager of Ballybrit Racecourse to explore the possibility of using its facilities during construction.
