Department examines alternative sites for secondary school in Ballincollig

The Department of Education says “a potential suitable site has been identified with Cork City Council"

(Left to right) Staff members Aoife Barry-Murphy, Peter Cregan, Nicola Barrett, Principal, Adam Kelly, Kate McCarthy, Cillian Brennan, Kelly O'Neill and Stephanie Coffey at the opening day of Le Chéile Secondary School, Ballincollig, Cork, in September. Picture: Dan Linehan

The Department of Education says it is examining all alternative options for a new secondary school premises in a Cork town after it was refused planning for temporary accommodation for the school on a GAA club car park.

Cork City Council planners shot down the department’s application for two double-storey prefabs on a portion of the main car park at Ballincollig GAA club to accommodate the Le Chéile secondary school which opened last September with 21 students in the former Cork Film Centre building nearby.

In a statement, the department said it is now examining “all alternative options” in the Ballincollig area for interim accommodation for the secondary school for September 2022.

“The department is continuing to liaise with officials in Cork City Council in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable permanent site for the school,” a spokesperson said.

A potential suitable site has been identified with Cork City Council and discussions are ongoing in relation to exploring all options available to the department to obtain possession of this site.

It said it can't comment further due to "commercial sensitivities related to acquisition of the permanent site".

“The department will endeavour to make the appropriate and necessary interim accommodation arrangements in the shortest timeframe possible and will keep the school and its patron informed as alternative options are examined and arrangements for September 2022 are made,” it said.

The department announced Le Chéile Trust last year as the patron of the new 1,000-pupil co-ed secondary school in Ballincollig. But by June, the school didn’t have a premises.  It finally secured the refurbished Cork Film Centre building to allow it to open in September.

The department has also yet to secure a permanent site for the town's Gaelscoil An Chaisleáin which has been in temporary accommodation on the grounds of Ballincollig rugby club since 2017. Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan said all efforts must be made to secure permanent sites as soon as possible.

“But even if a site for the secondary school was secured in the morning, it could take several years to deliver a school building,” he said.

Meanwhile, in response to a parliamentary query from Mr Moynihan, the Minister for Education has confirmed that a design team is working on detailed designs for a new 1,000-pupil capacity building for Coachford Community College.

“The timeframe for the construction of the project will not be known until the design stages have been completed and planning permission has been secured,” the minister said.