Ministerial praise for new €5m. Westport school

MINISTER Michael Ring is today officially opening the brand new school building for Scoil Phádraig on the Newport Road in Westport.

The new school building project cost in the region of €5 million (including construction costs, professional fees and furniture and equipment) and was built with government funding through the Department of Education.

Scoil Phádraig was formed in 2006 following the amalgamation of the CBS Boys School and the Convent Girls School and is the largest primary school in Westport with more than 300 pupils.

He said: “When I stood on the site of this new school in 2015 at the start of the building process I said that I was very proud - as a Westport native - to be turning the sod. Well I’m absolutely delighted to be back today to open this new “top-of-the-class” building.

“The school boasts state-of-the-art facilities and accommodation. These facilities include 16 classrooms, a general purpose room and ancillary accommodation. I have no doubt that the newly built classrooms and other new learning spaces of this school will enhance the children’s learning and the teacher’s ability to teach the primary curriculum to a high standard.

“The development of this new school building has been a long process and at times a challenging one. But seeing the school today it is most definitely worth all the hard work. A magnificent new school building stands before us to serve the children of Westport.

“The primary school plays more than an educational role in our communities. Indeed it is one of the local institutions that bind our communities together. It is where parents, children, grandparents and minders come together every day and the children that pass through it will forge relationships, some of which will last a lifetime.

“Much credit is due to the school’s leadership, its board of management, the school’s patron Most Reverend Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam; the parents and children and also to the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Skills. I extend thanks to all members of the community for your patience, and to the staff for their ongoing professionalism during the building of this school.

“Thanks to a magnificent effort on the part of the community combined with the financial support provided by the Department of Education on behalf of the government, we will be able to give the children of Westport that attend this school the best possible start in life.”

*See full coverage in next week's issue of The Connaught Telegraph.