With the phased return to schools which got underway on Monday 1st March as part of the Government’s ‘Covid-19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead’, Leaving Certificate students at Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom, County Limerick, have returned to a very different environment – a brand new, state-of-the-art school building. The group of over 100 Leaving Certificate students were the first cohort of students to be welcomed by Principal Gerard O’Sullivan and staff for the resumption of in-school teaching in the multi-million euro new campus.
Fifth-year students are expected to return to Coláiste Chiaráin in two weeks on the 15th March, subject to ongoing reviews under the Government plan, with the rest of the school’s 750 students returning on the 12th April – after the Easter holidays. With the safe return and sustained safe re-opening of schools a key priority over the weeks ahead, Principal, Gerard O’Sullivan, said: “Today is a really special day for our entire school community. It is with tremendous enthusiasm, excitement, and optimism that we welcome our sixth-year students to our new school campus. This occasion is not just a re-opening but the historic opening of a magnificent, extensive new school campus in Croom.” He continues: “For now celebrations are curtailed, our focus is firmly fixed on the safe opening of our new building and on embedding the practices and procedures that will keep all in our care safe and well for now, and in the months ahead. We look forward with hope and optimism to celebrating this remarkable project with our school and wider community when it is safe to do so in the near future.”
The construction of the new Coláiste Chiaráin at a 22-acre greenfield site was a massive undertaking for the school’s patron Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. Its Chief Executive, George O’Callaghan, says: “This represents an investment of some €20 million of public monies. The design team, led by Healy Partner Architects and Clerk of Works, John Collins, have worked closely with the main contractor, MMD, to ensure an excellent quality of finish on all elements of the contract, both internally and externally. The end result is a state-of-the-art community college campus for the Coláiste Chiaráin school community.”
Students Becky Dunworth and James Stapleton pictured returning to the new school as Leaving Certificate students at the new multi-million euro Coláiste Chiaráin school campus.
The multi-million euro development comprises of an almost 10,000m² 2-storey building, with 50 classrooms, a dedicated Special Education Needs facility, PE and GP halls, a fitness suite, and dressing rooms, as well as 6 external ball courts, 3 playing pitches, and extensive parking and set-down areas. This will facilitate delivery of the widest-possible curriculum to the school community, as well as enabling a diverse range of extra-curricular activities on the new school campus.
Construction commenced in October 2018 and, despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic restrictions last year, the new building was substantially complete and ready for students on 18th December. At the same time as the school contract was on-going, Limerick City and County Council was engaged in the construction of a new distributor road and this was completed to coincide with the handover of the new building in December.
New Campus February 2021 from Vimeo Vimeo on Vimeo.
Share this on...