Education Minister confirms when he expects a new Gaelcholaiste to open in North Kildare

The delay in the construction of a new Gaelcholaiste for North Kildare has been raised with the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, and he has said that the Department of Education hopes to have a new school up and running in the north of the county by 2019.

Kildare North Labour Representative Emmet Stagg has raised the issue of planning for the opening of the North Kildare Gaelcholaiste in Maynooth with the Minister for Education.

Given that the North Kildare Gaelcholaiste is due to be up and running in 2019, Mr Stagg stated that time was now of the essence in relation to securing accommodation for the Gaelcholaiste whether that would be in the mooted old Maynooth Post Primary School when the Maynooth Education Campus is opened or some other alternative accommodation.

The Minister advised Mr. Stagg that a Gaelcholáiste to serve the North Kildare area will open in 2019, subject to sufficient viability of the Irish-medium Aonad, which is currently part of Maynooth Community College. The Gaelcholáiste will operate under the patronage of Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board with An Foras Pátrúnachta.  In that context, the Department will continue to work closely with the Education and Training Board and An Foras Pátrúnachta in relation to the provision of appropriate accommodation for the establishment of the Gaelcholáiste.

Kildare North Labour Representative Emmet Stagg has welcomed the commitment from the Minister that his Department will continue to work closely with the patrons in securing appropriate accommodation for the Gaelcholaiste but advised that he would continue to press the Minister to ensure that a decision on accommodation is made at an early date.