ONE LIMERICK primary school has gotten a boost this week with the news that it is to get a new school building.
Monaleen National School received news that the Minister for Education Norma Foley has approved the building project to move to the ‘proceed to tender’ stage.
Once a contractor is appointed, construction can get underway early next year.
Monaleen NS will get a state-of-the-art, brand new 37 classroom building, worth €20million, which will be built on the existing 4.7-acre school grounds.
The project includes the demolishing of the current single-storey school building and the construction of a two-storey new facility with 37 classrooms, five special educational needs (SEN) classrooms, a GP room, library, resource rooms, and staff rooms.
The school currently caters for 800 pupils in the Monaleen and Castletroy areas.
The news of the expansion was welcomed by local politicians, Fine Gael Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell and Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea.
Minister O’Donnell said that the project “is another key milestone and critical step forward in progressing this much required new national school building project in Monaleen, where we see significant population growth”.
“Following the appointment of building contractors after the tender process, which will be carried out by Limerick and Clare ETB, it is expected that construction work on the school will get underway very early next year.
“The school build period is expected to be up to 18 months, with a target opening date of new school term in September 2026,” the Fine Gael man said.
Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea added that “this is a very exciting development for all involved at Monaleen National School as the new school will provide a state-of-the-art learning environment for many decades to come”.
