Two decades of frustration have led the Board of Management, staff, parents and school community of St. Joseph’s Patrician College (The Bish ) to express their disappointment at the news that the long-awaited new 1,000 student school campus in Dangan has not been included on the Department of Education and Youth’s list of projects prioritised to proceed to construction in 2026 and 2027.
This decision is even more baffling to them given the fact that the project’s design is complete, and the school will be fully tender-ready by April 2026. The new campus has been planned for over 20 years and has successfully overcome several hurdles along the way, culminating in the formal support of the Department of Education in 2020 and subsequent planning permission in 2024.
St. Joseph’s Patrician College (The Bish ), located on Nun’s Island in Galway, has served the young people of the city and county for over 160 years. This week, the Board of Management, staff, parents and school community told the Advertiser of their disappointment following confirmation that the long-awaited new 1,000 student school campus in Dangan is not on the list.
The Bish currently educates more than 750 students on a constrained and outdated site that was originally designed for approximately 450 pupils.
The Nun’s Island campus, which does not have its own outdoor sports facilities, needs expanded facilities to be able to deliver a modern, inclusive secondary education, equipped and prepared for evolving and future education needs.
In a statement, they said that current limitations make it increasingly difficult to provide the specialist teaching spaces, student supports and special educational needs facilities that are now standard and expected.
“The proposed new campus at Dangan would transform the school’s capacity to meet current and future educational needs, including shared modern sporting facilities with University of Galway, expansion of Transition Year student capacity, and a substantial expansion of facilities for students with additional and special educational needs at a time when demand for such provision is acute both locally and nationally.
“The pressure for additional second-level school places in Galway is already severe. For the 2026–27 academic year alone, the school was oversubscribed by approximately 250 places - almost exactly the level of additional capacity that the new school would provide.
“The expansion of the school from 750 to 1,000 was at the express request of the Department of Education, reflecting a wider and growing demographic demand across Galway city and county that cannot be addressed without urgent investment in new educational infrastructure.
“The project also carries wider strategic importance for Galway. Under a land exchange agreement with the University of Galway, the school has secured the Dangan site in exchange for its Nun’s Island campus at no site cost to the Department of Education. The relocation of The Bish is a key enabling element of the University’s plans for the regeneration of Nun’s Island - a major city-centre development supported by Galway City Council and expected to deliver significant social, educational and economic benefits for the city.
Kieran Kavanagh, Chairperson of the Board of Management, told the Advertiser that the entire school community is shocked and deeply frustrated by this decision.
“After more than two decades of planning and with the project now ready to proceed, we cannot understand why The Bish has not been prioritised for construction and have had no feedback of the reasons around this.
“The condition of our current facilities, the acute shortage of school places in Galway, the project’s advanced readiness, expanded SEN facilities and the wider public benefits linked to the University of Galway land exchange together make an overwhelming case for inclusion in the Department’s 2026 construction programme,” he said.
Principal Sarah Gleeson shared those sentiments.
“We are devastated. Everyone has worked tirelessly for years in the expectation that this project would finally move to construction in 2026. The current facilities place real constraints on teaching, learning and student wellbeing. Our community deserves clarity, certainty and progress.”
Parent’s Council Co-Chair, Stephanie Rea added that parents, students and staff feel very let down by the further delay to the construction of a school that will provide desperately needed facilities and essential capacity for thechildren’s education.
“We expect and demand more of the Department and the Minister.”
St. Joseph’s Patrician College is now calling on the Minister for Education and Youth and the Department to urgently reconsider this decision and to include the Dangan campus project at the earliest possible opportunity, in the interests of students, families and the wider Galway community.
