Request to Department of Education to visit St Eunan’s is ‘under consideration’

The Minister for Education said the request made to the department to visit St Eunan’s College is “under consideration”. 

Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton was responding to the request made by St Eunan’s College following the decision to overlook the secondary school in the National Development Plan rollout for 2026 and 2027.  

“The accommodation needs at St Eunans College will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities,” Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton, said. “I can confirm that a request to visit this school has been received by my office and is currently under consideration.”

READ NEXT: St Eunan’s College demands meeting with Minister amid 'infrastructural crisis'

Students recently visited Leinster House to highlight the need for funding for the upkeep of the school to elected representatives in the Dáil. The secondary school, which was built in 1906, has not received major improvement works since the 1970s. 

St Eunan's College has faced significant issues with overcrowding, with students and staff having to use portacabins for classrooms due to a lack of adequate permanent facilities. 

“This is a great school with over 1,000 students, but they are being failed by school buildings that are falling apart and dilapidated,” Sinn Féin’s Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn said. “The message from the St Eunan’s Students Council was clear today. The long delays in progressing the new school buildings have to stop. 

“It’s time for a school campus that matches the standard of education that they are meeting and delivering year after year.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme