Work starts on new Holy Family School project

Seamus Enright

Construction of the new Holy Family School (HFS) is progressing after contractors began installing the necessary measures to put in place temporary accommodation for when building finally commences.

Contractors moved on site last week to begin facilitating the transformation works at the Cootehill Business Park at Cornacarrow, on the outskirts of the east Cavan town.
According to the Department of Education, it will take 27 months to complete construction of the new HFS facilities.
Funding was secured in late 2015 for the new school, which caters for children and young people with severe and profound learning difficulties, moderate and multiple learning disabilities and/or autism from across counties Cavan and Monaghan.
It had been hoped that construction would begin in 2016. Included in the latest School Building Programme (2016-2021), the new building will be a new 26-classroom, two-storey school.
Once work commences, students and faculty will be decamped to prefabricated accommodation at the temporary site.
Currently the school is set across two sites including the White Star complex in Market Street; while in the main school, some students use a converted storage space as a classroom. Others, meanwhile, are taught in hallways.