Creeslough school committee "frustrated"
A committee established to campaign for an extension to a Creeslough national school say they are growing frustrated at the lack of progress, despite successfully raising over €60,000 for the project themselves.
A committee was established by parents of pupils at Scoil Mhuire NS in 2005 to help raise a percentage of the funds needed to help secure a school extension from the Department of Education.
They have held a number of fundraising ventures including a highly successful draw for a new car, which raised a profit of €60,000.
Committee member Anne Marie Kelly says they are now growing frustrated at the slow progress by the Department of Education despite the large amount of funds they have generated to help get the project started.
“A lot of effort went into this by the committee and now we are watching the money depreciate when this really would be a good time to build,” she explains.
“All the school extension money we raised is still there sitting in an account and that is very frustrating. We do other fund raising to keep the amenities running at the school. It is not easy getting support and we want to thank everyone who has supported us, it is greatly appreciated,” Anne Marie added.
Committee member Mary Lafferty says they have been campaigning for the new classroom and facilities extension for five years and she feels they are “getting nowhere” since they made their application to the Department.
In an update on the situation yesterday, a Department statement confirmed that an application for major capital works was received in September 2005. “The application sought a new classroom, to convert two existing classrooms into one, a GP room and the extension of staff room and storage facilities,” the statement read.
“The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects and assigned a Band 2 rating.”
It added: “The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme. However, in light of current competing demands on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Donegal
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
