An exciting new building project has just got underway in Ennis with the commencement of development at Gaelcholáiste an Chláir and Ennis Community College.
The project will see greatly expanded facilities for the school, with its campus at Harmony Row almost doubling in size when development is completed in 2021. This will result in a significant increase in annual enrolment. The school is administered by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board.
Speaking at the commencement of development on Wednesday, George O’Callaghan, Chief Executive, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, said: “This is a significant day for the school community in that it represents the culmination of a lot of planning and design work. Hopefully the new facilities will provide excellent learning spaces for the students of Gaelcholáiste an Chláir and Ennis Community College. It will provide a basis for future development of the schools and will make a huge contribution both to the school community and to the town of Ennis.”
The new development sees the addition of 4,200 square metres of teaching accommodation, which will be delivered over three floors. As well as a significant number of new classrooms, the project also includes a new Science Lab, Home Economics room, Art room, Library and General Purpose Hall. Additionally, a full size sports hall, fitness suite and changing facilities will be delivered. The project’s design team is Thompson Architects and the main contractor is Coolsivna Construction.
Also speaking at the project’s commencement, school principal, Brian O’Donoghue, said: “We are very excited about this development. The new facilities will further enhance the high quality of education taking place and, with LIT recently moving in across the road, it really cements Harmony Row and Bindon Street as the education quarter of Ennis.”
Explaining how the new accommodation will be used, he continued: “Ennis Community College has been in existence since 1938 and we will continue to grow our numbers as we have been in recent years. A very special part of our school is Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, which is the only provider in the county of post-primary education through the medium of Irish. The integrity of the Gaelcholáiste is maintained in the new structure and capacity has been included to allow it to grow also”.
