State to pay €470k for former monastery

The Department of Education is to pay an "above the market value" €470,000 for a former Christian Brothers monastery in west Waterford.

The purchase comes within 12 years of its previous owners, Waterford County Council, spending €3m renovating and installing it as the county library.

The two-storey, Gothic-style property is about 50m from Lismore’s Blackwater Community School and may be used to facilitate its special needs students.