Tánaiste praises ‘huge work’ at Mullingar Community College

A new building with special needs classrooms was officially opened at Mullingar Community College (MCC) last Friday by Tánaiste Micheál Martin.

The modular building contains six classrooms on two floors, and a central activities area and ancillary rooms on the ground floor.

The ceremony was attended by several local councillors, Oireachtas members, parents, staff, students, and other dignitaries.

The Tánaiste said “it was a great privilege” to open the building and hoped it would “increase the capacity for learning” at the school.

“I want to congratulate the school in terms of the real breadth and diversity of the curriculum on offer here and in particular, your strength in sports and music,” he said.

“These are the kinds of things you need in life, and I know in sport you are strong in basketball and boxing; my late father was a boxer and I’d know all about it.”

He said some members of the MCC faculty already have their next project in mind – the development of a sports hall.

“The Department of Education should be liaising with you to see if it’s the right fit,” he said.

“We will come back to you on that – I’m not making any promises. I’m always conscious that when you come to open one facility in education… I’ve never been to one before when the next project hasn’t landed on your desk before you even leave the school.

"That’s happened again today and it’s a good sign, there’s a restlessness to get things done here.”

The Tánaiste also wished to “salute” college principal Seamus Mohan and his team for their work regarding “children with additional needs”.

“It’s key for us as a society that special needs classrooms are not in buildings separate from everyone else so that children of all abilities are interacting,” he said.

“That’s part of an informal curriculum that will arise out of this facility and what’s being provided here. Congratulations on what you have achieved so far, and we will continue to support the college in the future.”

Enterprise Minister Peter Burke said it was also important to note that in a school it’s all about the community, from the secretary to the caretaker, to the teachers and pupils.

“It’s so important that our community flourishes and that’s why we really want to work and stand by our school communities, because education is an incredible power.

"We really live in a country of opportunity now where we have broken down the barriers brick by brick in terms of getting people access to high-quality education.”

He also noted further expansion plans are ongoing at Mullingar Community College.

“I look forward to seeing the footprint of the school doubling with the extension that is currently on the horizon and is going through the design process,” he said.

Principal Seamus Mohan said the new building would bring “immense benefits to this school and to our local community”.

“As a school, we are delighted to have opened two special needs classrooms and we are looking forward to opening more when our new extension is opened,” he said.

“Inclusion is at the heart of what we do in this school, and we look forward to the next stage of development so we can further that agenda.”

LWETB chief executive Liz Lavery said the new building will help positively shape young people’s lives.

“It will help us shape them into wonderful adults,” she said.

“It doesn’t happen by accident and there’s a lot of work that goes into it, but this building, this facility, will go a long way in helping them be the best they can be.”

MC on the day was Cllr Ken Glynn and other speakers included Deputy Robert Troy and Cllr Aoife Davitt. Also in attendance were Cllr Mick Dollard and Senator Aidan Davitt.