Mayo school shocked by Department decision regarding Westport site

THE Chairman of the Board of Management of a Westport national school says there is no justification by the decision of the Department of Education to effectively vacate them from their proposed new home on Altamount Street.

The Department of Education informed the Board of Management of Holy Trinity NS on Thursday that they have identified the old Scoil Phádraig NS building and site on Altamount Street as a 'solution for urgent temporary accommodation needs' for the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Westport.

The old Scoil Phádraig NS building had been earmarked as the location for the new Holy Trinity Church of Ireland school with plans progressing to design the new school building. However, the latest development puts the Holy Trinity school project into major doubt.

Eoin Holmes, Chairman of the Board of Management of Holy Trinity NS that they are shocked and devastated to receive the correspondence from the Department of Education as they had no inkling the news was coming.

Mr Holmes told The Mayo News that their school community feels discriminated against because they are a small Church of Ireland school. He said that the school will fight this decision and will take legal action if necessary and urged the Westport community to support them.

“We cannot let this injustice happen. I have had local representatives onto me aghast at this decision and we will do what has to be done to stop this.

“I want the department to show a bit of empathy and find a more practical solution for somebody else's problem and leave us to get on with our little project. We have done no harm to anyone and we have done nothing to deserve this. All we have done for years and years is push forward a project in the interest of our children and our little community and in the interest of our town and the common good. This is being done to us by the State whose duty it is to protect us and treat us all equally,” he said.

A replacement school building for Sacred Heart School in Westport is planned after the current building on Castlebar Street was deemed unsuitable and needs to be 'vacated as soon as possible'.

Holy Trinity NS received a letter from Caroline Rawlinson, the Higher Executive Officer with the Major Devolved Projects section of the Department of Education outlining the plan to use the Altamount Street site as temporary accommodation for the Sacred Heart School.

“In order to address the critical need for alternative accommodation for Sacred Heart School, it is proposed to undertake some immediate upgrade works to the Scoil Phádraig building and for Sacred Heart School to take occupation of this accommodation, along with the retained use of modular units and some of the better condition accommodation on its current site.

“It is proposed that the required upgrade works will be overseen by your school’s Design Team in order to ensure that these works complement the planned refurbishment of the accommodation for your school. The stage 2A, statutory approvals process and other pre-construction stages will continue to advance for your school in tandem with the temporary use of the former Scoil Phádraig building by the Sacred Heart School.

“I understand that this plan may raise some concerns on the part of the Holy Trinity NS community. While the continued safe operation of schools – in this instance the Sacred Heart School - is of paramount importance to the Department, it is recognised that early clarity on the overall solution is critical for all affected schools. The Department would therefore like to meet with you, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim ETB and your Design Team to discuss the sequencing of your project and how best to maximise the opportunity for any enhanced design outcome for your school from the advanced works for Sacred Heart School,” Ms Rawlinson wrote.

The current Holy Trinity NS building which is over 200 years old is located on the Newport Road in Westport and was declared ‘unfit for purpose’ following an inspection in 2010. This resulted in a decade-long campaign for a new home for Holy Trinity which led them to the Altamount Street site which was bought by the Department of Education.

In February 2022, Holy Trinity NS received a letter from Áine Cusack, Principal Officer of the Schools Capital Appraisal Section of the Department of Education where she acknowledged the delays and frustration in progressing a new school building.

She stated that the Department will 'work to advance the project into architectural planning as expeditiously as possible, in cognisance of the delays to date on the project'.

Holy Trinity NS and its design team had recently agreed a plan with the Department of Education to save the old Scoil Phádraig building from demolition and instead undergo a ‘deep retrofit’ of the old school in keeping with the school’s environmental credentials.

Mr Holmes said the fact the Department of Education agreed to this proposal made the latest development more outrageous and why their school community felt even more let down.

“Can you name one other school which has been treated like we have been treated. We are a very important part of this town and have been part of its fabric since the first stone was laid and contributes substantially to the shape and character of Westport and always has done. We are a vibrant part of what makes Westport. It has come to the point where we have had enough,” he said.