Fee-paying school set to remain at city centre base

The resolution of an accommodation crisis at a fee-paying Cork school has been welcomed by parents after a building in temporary use has become available again for classes.

An old house on Wellington Rd had been used since March while refurbishment at one of the other four buildings from which Scoil Mhuire operates on the terrace was being carried out. The work is expected to take a year.

After issues arose during the summer about its availability for the coming school year, the school wrote to parents a week ago to say all classes would have to move to a building at an industrial estate 2.5km away in Blackpool.

However, following concerns raised by parents, renewed efforts were made to find alternative accommodation near the school that would make the proposed move avoidable.

Parents were told at a meeting with the parents’ council last night that the leased building would now be available for the coming school year.

“We’re glad that there’s clarity brought to the situation and everybody can get on with the school year without the disruption the move would have brought about,” a parents’ council spokesman said last night.

“It came as a surprise to parents last week and there was concern about what was happening and why we found out so late, but everybody offered to help find a solution and thankfully that has happened.”

A spokesperson for the school said the temporary premises at Sidney Place on Wellington Rd would continue to be available for classes, subject to some conditions which have been agreed with the building’s owners and those doing work to it. It has been accommodating classes for about 100 of the 400 students during the renovations.

It is understood some works that need to be carried out at the building will mean some rooms will be unavailable for the first few weeks, but alternative arrangements can be made during that period.

The proposed move prompted a meeting of parents last week, where concerns were raised about the inconvenience of bringing students through traffic to another part of the city, and the difficulty girls would have getting to after-school lessons elsewhere in the city centre.