Building of new Coláiste Choilm school

A new school for Coláiste Choilm in Tullamore has finally being given the long-awaited go ahead by the Department of Education and construction could begin before the year is out. 'We are delighted to get the go ahead,' said school principal Colin Roddy yesterday (Thursday). 'What was probably in our favour is the fact that we were asked and conceded that the new school would be energy efficient and sustainable building down the line. I think the department looked favourable on that. A lot of good work was done by our design team and their report into energy saving measures. From our point of view it"s a project that needs to go ahead.' The new school will accommodate 575 pupils and although there are currently 515 pupils at the school, things have become congested because new subjects such as music and technology were introduced in the hopes that the new building would be granted sooner. There were also around 400 pupils back when the original plans for a new school were made in 1998, so the current building is too small for both pupils and staff at the moment. The project will go to tender and construction as soon as possible, confirmed Education Minister Batt O"Keeffe yesterday and he said there is even a chance that building work could begin before the end of this year. Department officials will shortly be contacting management at the school to inform them of the next steps that need to be taken as part of the tender process. 'The more competitive environment in the construction sector will allow me to maximise the return I get for the capital resources invested in the school building programme. Our increased spend this year demonstrates the Government"s desire to continue investing in the productive capacity of the economy, to create construction jobs and to provide schoolchildren and teachers with the best educational environment in which to learn and work,' said Minister O"Keeffe. A record €656 million will be invested in the school building programme this year by the Government. It"s expected that work will progress on the new school for Tullamore College this year as well. Plans for this school are expected to move to design stage by March, the final stage before construction. It"s anticipated that the new school will be built in 2010 and will have capacity for 675 students. The original school was burnt down in 2001.