This article is from page 32 of the 2007-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
A NUMBER of sites have been iden- tified by the Office of Public Works (OPW) as potentially suitable for Ennis Educate ‘Together National School, according to Clare TD Tony Ona
The recently appointed Junior En- vironment and Energy Minister also expressed confidence that a perma- nent school site would shortly be sourced.
According to Mi£nister Killeen, “The Department of Education and Science recently requested the Of- fice of Public Works to source a site for Ennis Educate Together National School. On foot of advertising, a
number of proposals were received and the OPW is presently awaiting a technical assessment report on the suitability of proposed sites.
“Minister for Education and Sci- ence, Mary Hanafin has informed me that every effort is being made to locate a suitable site for the school,” he added.
In a letter to Minister Killeen, the Minister for Education and Science wrote, “When a suitable site is se- cured the project will be considered in the context of the multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme.
“I am acutely aware of the long- standing efforts by the school board and parents of children attending the
facility to secure a permanent school site. I would now urge the OPW to present a list of suitable sites as quickly as possible,” concluded Min- ister Killeen.
Ennis Educate Together National School, which is based on the Gort Road, 1s co-educational and children are taught from junior infants up to sixth class.
The school has been engaged in a long running dispute with Clare County Council over a permanent site for the school.
Meanwhile, Minister Killeen has received confirmation from the De- partment of Education and Science that building and maintenance works at 26 primary and _ post-primary
schools across Clare will commence over the coming weeks. The funding allocated to Clare schools, under the Summer Works Scheme, is approxi- mately €2.1m.
Minister Killeen said, “Under this year’s Summer Works Scheme 19 lo- cal National Schools and seven Post- Primary Schools will benefit from projects to upgrade buildings and ELON n alee
‘The developments that have been sanctioned relate to electrical, main- tenance and conversion works.
“These projects will be of great benefit to the schools concerned and I commend the Department of Edu- cation and Science for its work in this area.”