New school building lies unfinished and parents are angry
They fear it won't be occupied for two more years
Local politicians are being pressured to have a contractor appointed to complete the construction of a new school building to accommodate pupils attending the Mercy Convent Primary School in Naas.
The school has 555 pupils.
Some 150 people, including Kildare North TDs and Naas area councillors attended a public meeting on March 7 during which frustration was expressed at the delay in providing the building which will bring 28 classrooms.
“This is a new school building but the project has been beset by delays going back to when the old building was knocked in 2017,” said parents representative Craig Byrne.
“At the moment there is no hall for physical education purposes so there is no PE for the children when the weather is bad. There is also a need for two special education classrooms, providing a dozen places and this is apparent because of waiting lists to access these classes,” added Mr Byrne.
Also promised is a new library and the building will also have six learning support rooms.
“At the moment these services are provided in unsuitable condition” he said , referring to the prefab structures which the pupils have been using since they were moved out of the old building in January 2018.
“The prefabs are noisy and there are problems trying to regulate temperature. At times the doors have to be opened to achieve a reasonable temperature and this accentuates the noise levels.”
Parents also complain that the prefabs are cramped and it was originally planned to use these temporary classrooms for two years at most.
Because the work has not been completed it’s estimated that the cost of providing security at the site is between €350,000-€400,000 per annum.
A new contractor has been appointed to complete the job but formal approval - known as a letter of intent - is awaited from the Department of Education and this is the cause of the parents’ frustration. The parents fear that, based on the government's timeframe the school won’t be occupied before early in 2026.
The original planning application for the reconstruction of the school was approved in January 2014.
Work began in 2017 but the contractor subsequently left and prior to that indicated there was a dispute over payment.
It is estimated that the work, once it starts, will be completed in 15 months.