Progress is made on school campus 

Shauna Bowers

PROGRESS has been made on plans to construct a school campus in Swords.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education confirmed that it is progressing with the plans for the facility at Mooretown. 

“Officials in the Department continue to liaise with officials in the local authority under the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the acquisition of the identified site at Mooretown, Swords,” the spokesperson told Northside People.

“The conveyance process is at an advanced stage. The project to deliver a permanent school building for Swords Community College on the Department’s Rapid Design & Build Programme is currently at architectural planning stage.”

Dublin Fingal Senator James Reilly (FG) has welcomed the progress made. 

Senator Reilly said he been working with Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, to ensure that the procurement proceeds quickly. 

“The establishment of a school campus that will accommodate both primary and secondary schools will be of immense benefit to the families in Swords who have been eagerly awaiting the additional schools to serve the area,” he said. 

I will continue to work with the Minister and the Department to ensure we have a school built and occupied by the end of 2018.” 

Provision for the Mooretown School Campus facility was set aside in the Oldtown/Mooretown Local Area Plan (LAP). 

The plan is set to deliver major educational facilities for the Swords area during its lifetime, in order to deal with the increasing population.

The new school, which will be known as Swords Community College, was set to open in September 2017 but was delayed by a year so the new target date is September 2018.  Swords local Fiona Stapleton said an increase in schooling facilities is definitely needed in the Swords area due to the ever-increasing population, making it Dublin’s largest town.

“I think a new school would be a good idea with the amount of new houses being built,” Ms Stapleton said.

“I can see waiting lists [to get into schools] getting longer and I think it would help with class sizes too.”

Another Swords resident, Bronwyn Lee, also agreed that the number of schools in Swords needed to be able to deal with the number of children in the area.

“More schools are always welcome,” Ms Lee said.

“The more schools there are, the better opportunities there are for children to get a good education and to enjoy their schooling.”