Minister’s visit a ‘step forward’ for St Mary’s School

Minister of Education Norma Foley’s recent visit to the new site for St Mary’s Special School, Delvin, in Mullingar, was a “very exciting move forward” for the school community, according to principal Sarah Nally.

The minister met Ms Nally, members of the school’s board of management and student Matthew Bridge during her visit to Mullingar earlier this month at the site of where the school’s new purpose-built home will be built. In October, St Mary’s was granted planning permission for a new school on a site located within the grounds of St Finian’s College, Mullingar.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Ms Nally said that the recent meeting with Minister Foley was constructive.

“It’s an exciting move forward. We’ve been waiting a long time for the minister to come down and say, ‘Yes, the project is still progressing’.

“It is significant. It’s going to mean that we will have a purpose-built school for children and young people with additional needs,” she said.

Ms Nally added that while the school community “love” the rural setting of their current home at South Hill in Delvin, they are excited about what the move will mean for students and staff.

“It will be purpose-built to meet the care needs, the medical needs and the learning needs of our students. There will be a physio room, a clinician room, a home economics room, an art room, a school library, which we don’t have now, and a multi-sensory room, as well as outdoor garden spaces for each class. The sensory walk that we have in South Hill will also be replicated.”

The project is currently at the tender stage, and Ms Nally says that the move to a new home represent the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the school.

“It will be a significant move for everyone moving from a rural to urban location, but I am sure that plenty of opportunities will come out of it,” she said.