merrion street

Over 800 new school places to be delivered in Ennis and Shannon

Minister also consults local community on Early Years Education

The Minister for Education & Skills, Richard Bruton is today (Friday April 27th) visiting Ennis and Shannon, County Clare to turn the sod on a new 24 classroom school and a 2 classroom SNU/ASD Unit for Sixmilebridge National School. The Minister will also officially open a new extension for St Patrick’s Comprehensive, Shannon, expanding the school to now accommodate up to 850 pupils.

Altogether, the government is investing over €10m to provide these new state of the art facilities in Co. Clare.

The government have set the ambition to make Ireland’s education and training service the best in Europe within a decade. Ensuring our children are educated in state of the art facilities is important to delivering on that ambition.

While in Clare, the Minister will also host a panel discussion on ‘Fulfilling the Potential of Early Years Learners Right through to Junior Cycle’ in St Flannan’s College, Ennis. The forum is the latest in a series of meetings which outline the Government's Action Plan for Education and consult local communities on how we can make Ireland the best education and training system in Europe by 2026.

Speaking after the forum, Minister Bruton said,

“I’m delighted to be here today, with my colleagues Minister Pat Breen and Deputy Joe Carey to mark what is a significant investment by government in local schools – just over €10m for two new schools in Ennis and Shannon. We are now creating more school places than at any other period in the history of the State. In 2010, some 9,000 school places were created. In 2017, we built approximately 18,800 new and replacement places.

“This government has a very ambitious plan for Education – we want Ireland to have the best education and training service in Europe by 2026 and I’m here today to also consult with local people on what delivering on that ambition would mean to them.”