Minister for Education approves site for Carrigaline’s Gaelcholáiste
July 7, 2010
Carrigaline is moving towards having an all-Irish secondary school (Gaelcholáiste) within a few years. The great news was received last weekend by the Gaelcholáiste’s steering committee from local TD Michael McGrath. Mr McGrath received a letter confirming the announcement from Mary Coughlan, Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science. Ms Coughlan has approved the purchase of a 21 acre site, which will accommodate a new Gaelcholáiste, a new primary school (possibly the relocating of the existing Gaelscoil) and a school for children with special needs.
The Gaelcholáiste will be located in Ballinrea, Carrigaline. The VEC has agreed to patron the Gaelcholáiste and has huge plans to develop state of the art facilities which will accommodate up to 700 students. If the existing gaelscoil decides to relocate, it will be the biggest Irish campus of its kind, with an all-Irish primary and secondary school along with a school for children with special needs on the one site.
PRO of the steering committee Adrian Breathnach is delighted with the news, “We are absolutely thrilled with this announcement. The committee has been working very hard for the last two years to make this a reality, Carrigaline has one of the biggest gaelscoils in the country, it only makes sense that there should be a secondary school through the medium of Irish.
The steering committee’s chairperson, Noel O’Regan, also welcomed the news and stated “the support from the parents from Carrigaline to Cobh, Douglas and Belgooly has been fantastic to date and with their continued backing we will aim to have the best Gaelcholáiste in the country for our pupils.”
According to Mr. O’Regan, “over 460 pupils have already applied in writing to enrol their children in the new school. This is a very clear sign that the parents and children of Carrigaline and surrounding primary schools want to be educated through the Irish language. Applications are welcome from parents of children attending both Irish and English speaking primary schools. Children coming from English speaking primary schools will be given extra help at the beginning of the school year if they require it. We will do our best to ensure our Gaelcholáiste will be open to all children in the area finishing their primary education.”
On behalf of the steering committee Mr O’Regan thanked all those involved in the project to date including Batt O’Keeffe, TD (during his term as Minister for Education), Barry Cogan, former TD and Barra O’Briain, Chairman of Cork VEC.
National and international research has indicated that children educated through two or more languages have better mental agility, communication skills, cultural awareness and are much more adept at picking up other languages in later years.
Anyone interested in the development of the school will find further details on our website www.gaelcholaistecarrigaline.net
