Ring again highlights Mayo school's accommodation plight

THE issue of the new school building for Holy Trinity National School in Westport has again been raised in the Dáil, amidst great concern that the promised site is no longer available .

Deputy Michael Ring, during Topical Issues on Wednesday morning, left the House in no doubt that the new school building sanctioned for Holy Trinity has to be delivered on without compromise.

The Minister for Education was not present to take the matter, which to his annoyance, but Deputy Ring proceeded due to the importance of the issue.

During his contribution, he stressed that Holy Trinity National School’s building is more than 200 years old and was deemed not fit for purpose in 2010.

The Sisters of Mercy agreed to give the former convent building to Holy Trinity for the purposes of constructing a new school building, with the Department of Education taking ownership of the site.

However, in March 2024, the department announced that while the Holy Trinity project was to process through the various stages, the department intended to use the old building for another school to provide temporary accommodation to them.

“This is simply not acceptable,” said Deputy Ring. “The Department have let this school down. They are not being treated fairly.

“I called very strongly on the Department of Education to build this school as promised and source alternative accommodation for the other school.”

Minister of State Colm Burke, who took the Topical Issue, in his response, said: “The project to develop the minister-owned former Scoil Phádraig building at Altamount Street for Holy Trinity National School was approved at stage 1 following a recent stage meeting.

“While Holy Trinity National School’s project progresses through its various stages, the department has identified the former Scoil Phádraig building as a solution for urgent temporary accommodation needs for Sacred Heart School, Westport.

“As the deputy may be aware, a project to provide a new replacement school building for Sacred Heart School in Westport is planned. Modular accommodation has already been provided on the Sacred Heart School site to facilitate the vacation of the parts of the school that were in the poorest condition. However, the condition of the remaining accommodation is such that there is a requirement to vacate the majority of this to support a safe working environment for the staff and students in that school.

“The department is following through on this requirement as a matter of urgency. After significant work to identify and consider all potential options, the use of the former Scoil Phádraig building was identified as the only viable solution to meet this urgent accommodation need in the timeline required.”

He added: “The department is conscious that the use of the former Scoil Phádraig building as an interim solution for Sacred Heart School has raised some concerns on the part of the Holy Trinity National School community. In that context, the Department has had productive engagement with the school’s patron, the Bishop of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe. The department officials have confirmed to the patron that there is a continued commitment to the delivery of the Holy Trinity National School project and set out some assurances and proposals of how the department can support Holy Trinity National School in the interim as well as enhancing the overall outcome for the school in the medium term.

“As a first assurance, given the importance of the delivery of the Sacred Heart School project, which includes accommodation for Westport ETNS, for the affected school communities, including Holy Trinity National School, the project for Sacred Heart School has been slotted into one of the department’s delivery programmes that has existing project management supports to support and facilitate project delivery. This approach will significantly aid the timeline for the Sacred Heart School project.

“The brief for the project has been finalised and it will commence stage 1 in the coming weeks. In effect, this means that the Sacred Heart School project is just one stage behind the Holy Trinity National School project.

“The department has invited all relevant patrons to join an oversight group that will monitor progress on the projects for Holy Trinity National School, Sacred Heart School and Westport ETNS.

“Given the inter-relationship between these projects, the department will be making arrangements for the project manager and the design teams for both projects to liaise and work closely together to ensure both projects get progressed as quickly as possible through the various stages of design, tender and construction.

“While the Sacred Heart School project is of significant scale, as part of good coordination between both projects, the department is proposing a phased construction that would prioritise the finalisation and vacation of the Scoil Phádraig building.”

Deputy Ring said this is a waste of taxpayers’ money, to renovate a building for temporary accommodation.

“I am extremely unhappy with the manner in which Holy Trinity National School are being treated and I will continue to highlight this at every available opportunity,” he said.