Educate Together awarded patronage of new schools

EDUCATE Together say they are looking forward to working towards building a new school community after they were awarded patronage of two new Southside secondary schools.

The brand-new secondary schools for Harold’s Cross and Goatstown/Stillorgan will open later this year.

 The patronage of both these schools was decided through an Online Patronage Process Survey that opened in September and closed in October.

Families living in the designated catchment areas were requested to visit a Department-run website and choose their preferred patron.

The results were then collated and sent to the independent New Schools Establishment Group that recommended that Educate Together be granted patronage of a 800-pupil school in Goatstown/Stillorgan and a 1,000-pupil school in Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6. 

 Goatstown/Stillorgan ETSS will join Goatstown Educate Together National School and be based on the site of the Old Glass Bottle Factory.

Harold’s Cross Educate Together Secondary School will join Harold’s Cross ETNS on the site of the former Greyhound Stadium.

Jessica Meehan, campaigner with the Goatstown Stillorgan Educate Together Secondary School Campaign said: “I'm really excited that the Goatstown/Stillorgan area now has a further option of secondary school as I believe it reflects our growing multicultural community.

“Participating in the campaign for this school was a really positive experience and I'm looking forward to working towards building this new school community.”

Sarah Hogan of the Harold's Cross Educate Together Secondary School campaign, added: “This is such fantastic news for the communities of Dublin 6/6W and Clonskeagh. Throughout the campaign the support from local parents has been incredible. It is so exciting that our children will now have access to a co-educational equality based secondary school in our area." 

Paul Rowe, the CEO of Educate Together offered his congratulations to the hard-working campaigners.

“This outcome is testament to the huge demand for equality-based second level places in Dublin,” he said.

“We are delighted that Goatstown Stillorgan ETNS will now be joined on the same campus by a secondary school that also offers an equality-based ethos at second level.”

Harold’s Cross Educate Together Secondary School will be part of a large increase in places as it opens in the same year as Educate Together begins its partnership with City of Dublin ETB in St Kevin’s College in Crumlin.

“We are making significant strides in providing sufficient second-level places to meet demand and will continue to work on this in the coming years,” Mr Rowe added.