From the old to the new as Moynalty moves schools

The staff and pupils of Moynalty National School moved into their new school building last Thursday morning. The children and their teachers walked from the old building to the new school, cheered on by the local community, with each child carrying something from the old school with them. It was a colourful procession in the sunshine, with many of the children carrying daffodils as they walked to the unique energy efficient new building. The whole school community had worked hard to get in and settled before the Easter break. Parents had a chance to look around the new school on Thursday and Friday and there will be an open day for everyone from the community to visit the school on Sunday 29th April from 12 noon to 3pm. The new school design is unique in that it has been built to PassivHaus Standard. This involves high levels of insulation, window glazing, energy efficiency, rain water harvesting, triple glazing, Co2 sensors in the rooms and an enveloped or air-tight build. The resulting building is therefore hugely energy efficient and extremely eco-friendly in its running and has received an A rating certificate. There are at present only two other commercial buildings to this standard in all of Ireland, making this school the third. The results were so good that the building is the best of the three. It is the first public building to achieve this standard in the country. Constructed by Purcell Construction of Ballybrit in Galway, it is the first 'passive' school in Ireland, the lowest airtightness rating of any non-domestic building in Ireland. As well as being chosen by The Department of Education and Skills for this type of building, the huge local fundraising campaign a few years ago means they have had a flood-lit all-weather football pitch installed. This fundraising has also been used to upgrade many of the teaching resources in the school and to get a good range of IT and computer equipment for use by all the children. Fr Joseph McEvoy PP said the work of successive boards and the parents and the work of the school fund raising group has to be acknowledged. "They have worked hard and have shown great resilience, commitment and patience. We have also been fortunate to have had a good building company in Purcell Construction and their site manager Don McMahon," he said. "Our congratulations go to all involved and our best wishes to everyone for a great future in such a beautiful school building. We are indeed fortunate to have it and to have the staff and children that make having this great Catholic school possible in our parish".