Minister Quinn turns sod on new €8 million Secondary School in Miltown, Co. Kerry

The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., today performed the official sod turning on the new Presentation Secondary School in Miltown, County Kerry.  The new school which will cost in the region of €8 million is expected to cater for more than 600 pupils.

The new school will be a two storey building adjacent to the existing school site.  The new site was acquired by the Trustees of the school in June 2010 to facilitate this project.

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This project consists of general classrooms, practical rooms, social areas, administration rooms, teaching spaces, laboratories, a general purpose hall, a library with ancillary spaces in addition to a PE Hall with fitness suite.  Outdoor areas include ball courts, bus set down, surface car parking and associated site works and landscaping.

Speaking at the ceremony today Minister Quinn said, “The new school will be of huge benefit not only to today’s students but also to future generations in Miltown and its surrounding areas who will attend this school.”

“Despite the tough economic circumstances the country faces, this Government has prioritized education and we continue to provide much needed new school buildings, major extensions and vital refurbishment works for our schools.”

“I want to thank the principal, the board of management, parents, teachers and the whole school community for their work in bringing the project to this point and I look forward to returning to see your new state of the art school when it is completed,” Minister Quinn concluded.

This school is one of seventeen projects selected to form part of the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) Devolved Schools Building Programme where the Department of Education and Skills has devolved responsibility for the management and delivery of this project to the NDFA.

This new build will replace the existing school, which is expected to be demolished following the project’s completion.  Work on site began in March 2014.

As part of an official visit to Kerry, Minister Quinn is also visiting Kilcummin National School, to view the school’s Junior Entrepreneur Projects.

He will pay a visit to Listellick National School which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The Minister will also visit Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School in Tralee.