A new building for Scoil Chaitríona in Renmore may have taken a step closer to becoming a reality following a meeting between the Minister for Education and representatives of the school.
According to Independent Galway City East councillor, Terry O'Flaherty, the meeting "pressed home" to Minister Norma Foley the "urgent need" for a new school - which caters for close to 800 senior and junior pupils - to replace the existing campus, much of which consists of pre-fabs which have fallen into disrepair, and which have high heating costs.
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School staff pointed out to the Minister that the schools were built in 1973-74 with a life expectancy of 25/30 years. The response from the Minister appeared to be positive. “Minister Foley said she understood the situation and the importance of progressing as quickly as possible towards the building of a new school,” said Cllr O’Flaherty, "plans for which were included in the Government’s Five Year Schools Building Programme in 2015."
Cllr O'Flaherty [pictured below] added that the Minister informed the meeting that she would come back in the New Year with "a more definitive timeline" and a plan on how the project can be progressed.
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The video conference call with Minister Foley had been arranged by Independent Galway West TD, Noel Grealish, at the request of city councillor Terry O’Flaherty. It was attended by the principals and board of management representatives of the junior and senior schools, and some local Oireachtas members
“Pupils and staff at Scoil Chaitríona deserve better than what they have to put up with at the moment," said Cllr O'Flaherty. "I really hope the Minister can speed up a resolution and will have good news for us next month."
