Good News For Secondary School Projects In Wicklow.

Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore has welcomed the news from the Department of Education that school projects currently out for tender will be authorised to proceed to construction in 2024 and early 2025 in the coming days.

Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore has welcomed the news from the Department of Education that school projects currently out for tender will be authorised to proceed to construction in 2024 and early 2025 in the coming days.

According to a media release from the Department, it is planned that close to 90 school building projects currently at the tender stage will be authorised to proceed to construction. Given the serious capacity issues in the provision of school places in Wicklow, particularly in Greystones, where over twenty 6th-class students still don’t have a place for secondary in September, Deputy Whitmore has called for schools across Wicklow to be prioritised.

Speaking today, Deputy Whitmore said: “The news today of plans for the rollout of the next phase of the Department’s school building programme is welcome, and I am working on getting an update for Wicklow-specific schools. Specifically, we need to know when the new school builds for Greystones Community College and Kilcoole Primary School will begin, as these two schools are currently at the tender stage. Given the scale of the school place shortage in Greystones and Kilcoole this year, these schools must be delivered urgently.”

“It is also important to note that there are a large number of other Wicklow school projects still in the design stage of the process. Projects such as building extensions for Coláiste Chraobh Abhann, Kilcoole, and Temple Carrig School, along with Loreto Secondary School Bray and Blessington Community College, which are at the design stage, have to be progressed. Demand for school places across the whole of Wicklow has grown year on year. We need the government to make Wicklow schools a top priority.”