Tánaiste marks handover of Further Education Campus in Blackrock

A NEW e9.5m state-of-the-art further education college building has been completed on Main Street in Blackrock.

This major new development, which has been funded by the Department of Education & Skills, was designed by award winning architects McCullough Mulvin, and built by Collen Construction.

It will become the new home for Senior College Dun Laoghaire, which will move to the new premises in early June to become known as the Blackrock Further Education Institute (BFEI).

The handover ceremony was attended by Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Deirdre Hanamy, College Principal; Cllr Jane Dillon Byrne, Chairperson of the Board of Management and Paddy Lavelle, Chief Executive of the Dublin & Dún Laoghaire Education Training Board (DDLETB).

With excellent new facilities, the Blackrock Further Education Institute, which is one of the largest dedicated Further Education Colleges in the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, will serve the skills development and education needs of the local community and beyond.

It will cater for over 1,000 full and part time students when it opens for its first academic year in September.

Modern new facilities include computer laboratories, design studios, beauty salons and an ICT learning centre that will benefit school leavers and adults returning to education.

The campus also includes social areas for students and a modern cafeteria.

This new building combines the original Blackrock Town Hall, Carnegie Library and Municipal Technical School, which are all protected structures from the 1860s and early 1900s.

They have been sensitively preserved and integrated by McCullough Mulvin Architects into a modern new centre of education in the Southside suburb.

The development includes the refurbished Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s Blackrock Library.

Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, said:

“The Government is prioritising education, training and skills development as an essential element of Ireland’s economic competitiveness and growth.

“This is an exceptional new campus that will meet the further education requirements of student and adult learners through the National Framework of Qualifications.

“I compliment the Education Training Board, the architects, builders and everyone involved in this new building on the overall very high quality that has been achieved throughout this entire development.

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Principal Deirdre Hanamy added:

“This new building will bring a welcome and significant upgrading of facilities for staff and students and it will enhance and strengthen our ability to achieve our mission which is to provide a quality teaching and learning experience for students.

“Further Education Institutes have a significant part to play in the education and upskilling of the future workers of this country and have a responsibility to ensure that courses on offer are industry relevant, quality assured, accessible and affordable.

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She added:

“The provision of this new building is a welcome recognition by the Government of the educational contribution that the Further Education sector has made and will continue to make to the local and wider community in the future.

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Further details on the Institute and all courses are available at www.bfei.ie