€5m grant kickstarts Cork school’s ‘transformation’

The money will enable the secondary school to create a new extension which, when completed, will accommodate five general classrooms, one special education teaching room, an arts room, a home economics room, and two special education needs classrooms.

A well-known school in North Cork has received a €5m grant to carry out a major extension and modernise its facilities.

Presentation Secondary School in Mitchelstown has been granted funding under the Department of Education's 'Additional Accommodation Scheme 2022', which principal Lorraine O’Keeffe warmly welcomed.

She said the money will enable the secondary school to create a new extension which, when completed, will accommodate five general classrooms, one special education teaching room, an arts room, a home economics room, and two special education needs classrooms.

“This is a significant investment in the future of the school, making Presentation Secondary School Mitchelstown one of the biggest school campuses in the town,” Ms O'Keeffe said.

“It’s great news for the school,” said Ms O’Keeffe, who added that she hopes that tendering for the project can get under way as soon as possible.

“The first step in progressing this project is to appoint a design team to design and tender the project and oversee the construction. 

"The grant will be paid out in three tranches of 30% with a fourth final payment of 10%,” the principal said. 

We hope that this is just the start of the transformation process for Presentation Secondary Mitchelstown and we are already making adjustments to our current school format. 

"Once that is all finalised, we will then focus on developing our school pitch with plans at an advanced stage to install a full-length astroturf playing surface.

"In conclusion, I wish to thank the board of management for their support and the Department of Education for their generous allocation,” Ms O’Keeffe added.