St. Eunan’s College development to be fast tracked

 
A fast track design has been confirmed for the planned development at St. Eunan’s College in Letterkenny.
The school is one of two Donegal school selected nationwide for the latest round of the Adapt design and planning programme.
The Department of Education and Skills has confirmed that the competition for a design team for St Eunan’s has gone live as part of the Adapt II programme.
It will run for about eight weeks.
In a statement Education Minister Joe McHugh said St Eunan’s dates back to 1906 and a lot of work has gone into assessing how the old and new can be married in this major project.
Minister McHugh says that a project manager will be dedicated to the school in this Adapt programme which will mean a more hands on focus.
The designers will draw up a master plan to develop St Eunan’s into a school fit for 1,000 students and more than 10,000 square metre of school space, including refurbishment in the older buildings and protecting the historically important castle.
Minister McHugh also denounced unfounded claims about delays to the major development of St Mary’s, Stranorlar.
“St Mary’s National School is another project very close to all our hearts and minds and there’s been some totally absurd claims made about it in the last 24 hours,” the Minister for Education and Skills and Donegal TD said.
“So here’s some facts – it is on course; it is being designed to a top class finish; it will have superb energy efficiency and environmental standards; the final approvals on designs are being worked on; and we are aiming for work to begin towards the end of the year.
“Despite the nonsense noise that sometimes surrounds these community projects, principal Fintan Keating is being kept up to speed in order to help the school community understand how the process works and how the plan is shaping up.
“Fintan has been a steady hand and has put serious graft into ensuring this project comes to fruition. I can’t praise him, his work and his team enough.
“The project is on course to go to tender in the coming months and for construction to start soon after that.
“The Department is fully committed to the St Mary’s project, the money was budgeted for this some time ago and I am fully committed to seeing workers on the ground.”