Seán Canney TD, Minister of State for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports and Leader in Cabinet of the Independent Ministers, has welcomed confirmation that Letters of Intent are being issued for the construction of two brand new school buildings on a shared campus in Athenry.

The projects will see new state-of-the-art facilities delivered for Coláiste an Eachréidh and Gaelscoil Riada, bringing both post-primary and primary education together on a modern campus to serve the growing Athenry area.

Coláiste an Eachréidh will be delivered as a new 450-pupil post-primary school, including three dedicated Special Educational Needs classrooms, while Gaelscoil Riada will be developed as a new 16-classroom primary school, along with two dedicated Special Educational Needs classrooms.

Welcoming the development, Minister Canney said: “This is a really important step forward for Athenry. This is a long overdue project, so it’s good to see them now moving into the construction stage.

He added that the shared campus approach is a sensible step: “Bringing both schools together on one campus also makes sense from a community point of view – it creates a strong education hub in the town.”

The projects are being delivered under the Department of Education’s Large Scale Capital Programme.

Minister Canney said he is looking forward to seeing progress on site in the period ahead: “There’s been a lot of work done to get to this point. Now it’s about getting on with the build and delivering these schools for the community.”