Office home only temporary for Carrigaline gaelcholiste

Assurances are being made that the use of a former office building as a gaelcholiste in a Co Cork town will only be a temporary measure.

Agriculture Minister and local TD Simon Coveney said there had been some concerns about the planned accommodation of the new second-level school at Waterpark House in Carrigaline

I would like to assure everyone that this is just a temporary solution and that the permanent campus for Gaelcholiste Charraig U Leighin is on track, he said.

Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) chief executive Ted Owens said it is close to getting Department of Education approval to lodge a planning application with Cork County Council for a three-school campus at Ballinrea on the city side of the town.

Among the buildings planned is a permanent home for the new 500-student all-Irish second-level, as well as a primary gaelscoil and a special school.

Although the department expects the gaelcholiste building to be ready by September 2016, the ETB is more cautious.

The project has, however, been included in Education Minister Jan OSullivans list of developments due to begin construction this year.

As patron of the gaelcholiste, the ETB is taking enrolments and applied for planning permission on December 11 to change office space at Waterpark House to educational use.

With the help of a 50,000 grant from the department, it is planned to refurbish it to provide classrooms, and to make changes to parking areas for outdoor recreational space.

The building near the recently-extended Carrigaline Community School includes a period house and modern office extension, and was previously headquarters of the Shipton Group development company.

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Office home only temporary for Carrigaline gaelcholiste