Hundreds of East Cork students celebrate moving into new €40m campus
Principal Lorna Dundon cutting the ribbon along with staff members, students and friends, at the opening of the new Carrigtwohill Community College campus, Co Cork. Picture: David Keane
From a business park to a state-of-the-art school building — hundreds of East Cork students were celebrating on Thursday as they moved into their new €40m campus, hailed as one of the single-most ambitious education projects ever undertaken by the Department of Education.
After more than 20-years of campaigning, and eight years in a business park unit, it was all smiles on Thursday morning as parents of students of Carrigtwohill Community College watched them parade into their new permanent purpose-built school building for the first classes.
A spokesperson for the school’s parents’ association, who was involved in the long-running campaign to secure the new co-ed secondary school, praised all the local TDs for their support, and all the parents who helped the campaign over the years.
“We were happy to give something back and help in whatever way we could,” she said.
“If you asked anyone on the committee, yes, we are extremely proud of the new building, but we are even more proud of the teachers and the students, who have made the school as wonderful as it is. We are all very excited for the future.”
While Carrigtwohill has the all-girls St Aloysius secondary school, parents began campaigning for over 20-years ago for a purpose-built secondary school for the town’s boys.
A dedicated group of parents linked to the town’s primary schools gathered expressions of interest from dozens of parents calling for a new secondary school, which helped secure agreement from the then Cork County VEC, later the Cork Education and Training Board (ETB), and from the Diocese of Cloyne, to become patrons of a new school.
In 2016, Carrigtwohill Community College opened with 45 students and 17 staff in a building in Fota Business Park for what was supposed to be their temporary home for three years.
As student numbers grew, the temporary school expanded through three prefab extensions, with basketball courts and an astro pitch added to the business park.
When secondary schools in Glanmire and Midleton began to reach capacity, Carrigtwohill Community College’s parents association, supported by parents in the primary schools, ramped up their campaign for a permanent new school building.
They met the then education minister Joe McHugh, and organised a protest march through the town in May 2019 before finally, approval was given for a new three-school campus off Carrigtwohill’s Station Road to accommodate some 2,000 students.
Education Minister Norma Foley turned the sod in December 2022, describing it as one of the single most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the department.
The campus now includes two schools operating under the auspices of Cork ETB — Carrigtwohill Community College and Carrigtwohill Community National School, formerly Scoil Chlíodhna CNS — with the third school, Scoil Mhuire Naofa, operating under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Cloyne.
The Carrigtwohill Community College building can accommodate 1,000 students. Each of the primary schools has 24 mainstream classes and a unit for three special education classes.
The primary school students moved in a few months ago and the school's 750 students and almost 80 staff, who have been based in a business park for eight years, finally moved in to their new building on Thursday.
School principal Lorna Dundon said while the move means a change for the college community, its mission statement, values, and vision remain unchanged.
"Our journey to this point has been characterised by tireless effort, unwavering commitment, and a shared belief in the power of education to transform lives," she said.
"Today, we embark on a new chapter in our collective pursuit of knowledge and excellence.
Within these walls, we will continue to foster a culture of inclusivity, respect, and intellectual curiosity.
"We will continue to empower our students to dream big, to challenge the status quo, and to become compassionate leaders in our community.
"And let us not forget that the success of this school will not be measured solely by academic achievements; it will be measured by the character of our students, by their ability to empathise, collaborate, and persevere in the face of adversity."
“It has been a long road, particularly for those of you who have been with us since the beginning, but I thoroughly believe that it has been worth the wait,” she told parents.
“This is an immensely exciting time for all of us in CCC and it is timely to take stock of where we are and to remind ourselves of our core values.
“We look forward to a new beginning in our new home, bringing all that is good from our current existence.”
