Push for progress on school build

Noelle Finegan

Published: Tue 26 Mar 2024, 3:06 PM

Last updated: Tue 26 Mar 2024, 3:09 PM

Parents vowed to keep the pressure on to speed up the delivery of the permanent school building for Dunshaughlin Community National School, at a public meeting held in the school last Wednesday night.

Parents who were frustrated over the slow pace of progress and lack of communication on the project organised the public meeting which was well attended by parents of children in the school and those due to start in September as well as a number of local councillors and Deputy Darren O'Rourke. LMETB Chairperson Martin O'Brien was also in attendance.

There are currently over 80 children in the school with 30 more due to start in junior infants in September. This year, the school received more than 40 applications for junior infants but could only accept 30. Parents were told that another prefab would be required to accommodate the incoming class.

Planning permission is in place for a new eight-classroom school which will be built on the same campus as Colaiste Ríoga on a site beside the Willows Development on the Dublin Road. At present Dunshaughlin CNS is accommodated in prefabs located at Dunshaughlin GAA, which is at the opposite end of the village.

Chairperson of the parents association, Joleyn Azag said everyone was of the view that the needed to pressure on anyone that pressure could be put on, to get the project moving as quickly as possible.

She said they would be writing to Education Minister Norma Foley to put their case to the Department and would be encouraging as many parents as possible to do so also. They also intend to seek a meeting with representatives of the Department of Education in Tullamore.

Joleyn said they got commitments from the councillors present to follow up on the planning permission as in theory it is due to expire in 2025, and they want to know what happens if work is not started before then.

They will also be putting pressure on the government TDs in the constituency- Thomas Byrne and Helen McEntee- to see what they can do to help accelerate delivery of the new building.