Minister for Education Norma Foley has turned the sod on a new school campus for Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, an Irish-medium primary school located in Dublin city centre.
The school has been operating in cramped conditions in a Georgian building on Parnell Square for more than two decades.
Speaking at the site of the new school on Dominick Street, Minister Foley expressed her admiration for the teachers and staff for delivering a comprehensive education that extends beyond the curriculum.
She said she witnessed “excellence in education being delivered in compromising circumstances” during a visit to the school.
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“The building never stood in the way of excellence that’s delivered every single day,” she said.
“They deliver the curriculum but they go far beyond the curriculum. They give so much more opportunities that are limitless for the students. I think that is the richness of the Irish education system that we have such dedicated staff that go beyond their job description,” Minister Foley said.
The project represents an investment of an estimated €11 million under the Department of Education’s Schools Capital Programme.
The school, which currently has 172 pupils, has been seeking a permanent location since relocating to temporary accommodation in a Georgian building in Parnell Square in 2000.
Príomhoide (principal) Pól Hansard, a past pupil of Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, said the current building, comprising four stories more than a basement, is inadequate for the school’s needs.
“This building was found in an emergency – it was due to last for just three years. We marked our 20th anniversary here in January,” he said.
The cramped classrooms have forced the school to turn children away due to safety concerns and limited capacity.
“We have no water. There are no toilets or sinks in the rooms. Children have to walk upstairs or downstairs to get to the toilets. It’s a supervision nightmare,” said Mr Hansard.
Children have limited access to an outside yard which is a shared car park, also used by a nearby hotel.
The sod-turning ceremony represented a significant milestone as the project has encountered significant delays since the site was first earmarked for the school in 2006.
Changes in design requirements resulted in prolonged delays to the project.
“Initially they were going to build an eight-classroom school,” Mr Hansard said.
“The Department [of Education] then decided we would need a 16-classroom school and we had to start all over again.”
“We were told we would be fastracked through the process. That was in 2012,” he said.
“Then, in 2014, a decision was taken about the design of the building, and we’ve been progressing through the various stages of the process at a snail’s pace since then.”
The school attracts children from a three kilometre radius of the school. Children from the surrounding area in the city centre attend, as do children from Stoneybatter, Phibsborough, East Wall, Ballybough, North Strand and Sheriff St.
The new building, upon completion, will have the capacity to accommodate up to 480 children, and will continue to provide immersion in the Irish language.
“We have full immersion here,” said Mr Hansard.
“There’s a huge interest in Irish medium education,” he said.
“We have over 50 applications every year.”
“We don’t use any English until rang a haon [first class]. Most of the children don’t have any Irish at home but they understand everything very quickly.
“Being able to reply and use it takes a little bit longer but by Christmas time the children in junior infants are flying!
“We set up a football and hurling team in the last two years and the children love it – when they’re playing schools that aren’t Gaelscoileanna they use it as a code on the football pitch!
“It really opens their minds to other possibilities.”
The children are excited at the prospect of the new school. What excites them the most Mr Hansard said, is the prospect of having a proper clós scoile (schoolyard).
Tuesday’s ceremony was attended by schoolchildren, teachers, parents, and politicians, including Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald.
