A computer generated image of the new St Fintina's Secondary School.

Green light for Longwood secondary school

Plans for a new 500-student secondary school for Longwood have been given the green light by council planners.
The new school for St Fintina’s Post-Primary School will be built on a site on the Enfield Road in the village, adjacent to St Nicholas’ Primary School.
In November, Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) lodged a planning application with Meath County Council for the new school and further information was sought on those plans in December.
News that planning permission has been granted has been widely welcomed in the area. At present, just four classes are being taught in permanent classrooms with some 16 others accommodated in prefabs.
LMETB CEO Peter Kierans said: “This is another milestone on the journey and it a very important milestone. It has been a long process to get to this point from securing the site to getting approval from the Department of Education to go ahead.”
The 6,300sq metres building will be part-single storey and part-two storey and will consist of general classrooms, a special needs unit, specialist rooms, support teaching spaces, administration areas, a PE hall and ancillary accommodation. It will cater for up to 500 students. The school will also have a full autism unit.
A new entrance and exit will be provided and there will be five ball courts, a playing pitch, car parking spaces, bicycle parking and drop-off and pick-up facilities. Specialist rooms will include woodwork, home economics, art, science, technology and music. The gynasium will also be able to multi-function as a theatre because of the design.
The next stage of the process will be the tender process and it is hoped that construction will commence within six months. The build will take 15-18 months to complete.