Stakeholders press to see Dunshaughlin Education Campus build fast-tracked

Tendering process for new Dunshaughlin CNS and Coláiste Rioga Secondary School not expected to start for another year

The new Dunshaughlin Education Campus beside the Willows estate on the Dublin Road is not expected to go to tender until the first half of next year, according to the latest update from the Department of Education.

The new campus will accommodate both Dunshaughlin Community National School and Coláiste Rioga Secondary School, with both schools currently operating in temporary accommodation. The primary school and secondary school are both under the patronage of Louth Meath Education and Training Board but the building project is being progressed directly by Department of Education.

The Department intends to appoint a project manager to oversee the building project and says it will not be progressed through the Department's 'Design and Build' framework (where a panel of contractors is already in place) as there is no capacity under the framework to progress more projects to tender until 2024.

In the meantime, the Department intends to progress a number of projects with planning permission, including Dunshaughlin, under the supervision of a department project manager who will procure and appoint a full design team

The Dunshauglin campus will then be tendered to the open market rather than the current Design and Build Contractors Framework.

"This will ensure that such projects do not have to await capacity on the current framework to proceed to tender, but rather can be progressed and actioned over that timeframe to tender outside of the D&B framework. It is envisaged that this will also serve to broaden the range and number of contractors to which such projects can be tendered than would have been possible within the Design and Build Framework. A construction timeline will be available once a contractor has been appointed," a Department spokesperson said.

"The Department’s project manager will be tasked with appointing design teams to these projects from the Department’s newly established Frameworks of Consultants, with the expectation that these projects could then proceed to tender in early to mid-2024. The Department will continue to work with the schools’ patron body (Louth and Meath ETB) in relation to the schools’ interim accommodation needs, pending delivery of the permanent project," the spokesperson added.

With hundreds of new houses being built in Dunshaughlin and many new families moving into the area, local representatives are pressing for the project to move forward as quickly as possible. Cllr Nick Killian, cathaoirleach of Meath County Council is also chair of the board of management of Coláiste Ríoga and met with Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien when he visited Dunshaughlin on Monday to officially open 96 new social homes being delivered in the Willows. He said he had spoken to both Minister O'Brien and Minister Thomas Byrne and asked them to press the matter with Education Minister Norma Foley.

Cllr Killian commented that in his opinion the schools would move quicker from a building point of view if LMETB were in charge of the building project rather than the Department.

"It is going to take political pressure on the Minister and Department right across all party lines to move it forward as soon as possible," he said.

Dunshaughlin Community National School is currently operating in prefabs in the grounds of Dunshaughlin GAA and has an enrolment of 53 students. There are 24 children in junior infants, 17 in senior infants and 12 in first class with another 30 children expected to start this coming September. There are no plans to cap enrolment and extra accommodation will be provided if needed.

Chair of the Board of Management of Dunshaughlin CNS Cllr Damien O’Reilly said: "I am pressing the Department of Education to move forward with the tender process as soon as possible to get construction started considering the rate that Dunshaughlin is growing.”

He added that there will be no cap on school admissions at the school's current location at Dunshaughlin GAA club grounds and he expressed his thanks to the club's executive for hosting the school on their grounds. Cllr O'Reilly also pointed out that the Department of Education are leading this project not LMETB.

Meath's newest secondary school, Coláiste Ríoga now has 70 students between first and second year with an expected intake of another 90 for the coming academic year. The school opened in September 2021 with just 12 students and is located in temporary accommodation on the permanent site.

Planning was granted a year ago for a new school building to cater for 1,000 students to include 37 classrooms together with specialist classrooms and a four-classroom special needs unit.

Planning permission is also in place for the new eight-classroom primary school building for Dunshaughlin CNS. The plans also include a two-classroom special education unit.

Sinéad Murphy, Head of Land and Buildings with LMETB said LMETB are "looking forward to the two Dunshaughlin school projects progressing to tender and have full confidence in the Department's project management of the projects".