Education Minister Norma Foley must “live up to her promise” and provide a new school building for the staff and pupils of Scoil Chaitríona in Renmore.
This is the view of Independent Galway City East councillor, Terry O’Flaherty, who said the Minister had undertaken, during a video conference call on December 10, that she would come back early in the new year with a timeline for when a new school might be provided to replace the current dilapidated facility.
Also present at the meeting were the principals of Scoil Chaitríona senior and junior schools, the chairs of the boards of management, the Galway Diocesan Education secretary, and a number of local Oireachtas members.
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“We are now into February and we still haven’t heard back from the Minister,” said Cllr O’Flaherty. “Frankly, I’m disappointed we are still waiting for her to respond. She told us she understood the situation. The conditions at the senior and junior schools are not acceptable, and it’s costing a fortune to heat these pre-fabs that have been there since the mid-1970s, and that are falling apart.”
It is understood that Independent Galway West TD, Noel Grealish, has tabled a Parliamentary Question on the issue to the Minister, in an effort to “get some clarity and some action on the matter”.
A move to Ballybrit?
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Scoil Chaitríona caters for 800 pupils and plans for a new school were included in the Government’s Five Year Schools Building Programme in 2015.
Cllr O’Flaherty added that the school authorities were waiting on approval from the Department of Education for the school to move to Galway Racecourse as a temporary measure, once work got under way on a new building.
A meeting was held during the summer with the manager of the racecourse. “The committee came away from that meeting feeling very positive,” said Cllr O’Flaherty. “They felt the location was perfect to accommodate their needs, it ticked all the boxes.”
