Progress on €200M of ETB building projects

Designs for a major extension to Coláiste Dun an Rí in Kingscourt have been submitted to planners in the Department for Education for approval.

Currently at ‘Stage 2b’ of the process, the designs must be formally approved before going to tender and proceeding to construction.

It’s among a number of school building projects being progressed by the Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB) across the two counties, valued at approximately €200M.

Planning permission for the Kingscourt school extension - a development that spans across two and four storeys and is connected via a new link bridge to the existing school’s first floor - was granted by Cavan County Council in July.

The new accommodation and school, once complete, will cater for up to 1,000 students. The extension provides will house 23 new classrooms, Special Educational Needs (SEN) facilities and other specialist classrooms such as a multimedia room, a Design and Communication Graphics (DCG) room, science labs, preparation areas, home economics room, an art room, construction studies room, an engineering room, and a tech prep room.

Recreational amenities such as an additional ballcourt, student outdoor areas, car parking and bicycle parking are also included.

School building projects

A similar submission is due in respect of plans to add three new classrooms, an SEN base plus ancillary accommodation at Castleblayney College. Permission there was granted by Monaghan County Council in June.

The local education board is awaiting planning permission for a major extension to Inver College in Carrickmacross. It’s for a new two-storey extension to accommodate a new Special Education Unit, four specialist classrooms, two SET rooms and a General Purpose Hall.

The original school building, built in 1959, is set to be demolished to accommodate the new extension.

Elsewhere, a tender response report is still being completed by the design team appointed to the Beech Hill College extension project, with a view to it being submitted to the Department for approval in due course.

Meanwhile, the Stage 2a report submitted to the Department of Education in respect of the proposed extension to Cavan Town’s Breifne College, submitted last June, is still awaiting approval.

For non-ETB schools, work continues at Castleblayney’s Gaelscoil Lorgan (works began September 2024) and Rockcorry’s Scoil Mhuire (works ongoing); while CMETB’s building section is also managing projects at Doohamlet National School (Stage 2B), Edenmore Primary School (scope of works under review), and the provision of PE halls for both the Royal School Cavan (feasibility study for alternative locations) and Monaghan Collegiate School (Stage 2B expected April 2025).

At Cootehill’s Tanagh Outdoor Education Centre, a contractor has commenced works on a kitchen refurbishment, while an electrical upgrade at Cavan’s FET Campus has been completed.