Kolbe School parent 'not getting too excited' despite latest announcement

Having heard political discussion on Kolbe Special School over the years, one parent said she was ‘cautiously optimistic’ at the latest announcement.

In a joint statement this afternoon, Minister for Education Norma Foley and Minister of State for Special Education Josepha Madigan said the 58 school builds placed on hold due to budget pressures would now go ahead. These include Kolbe Special School which had been expected to be delivered by the end of next year before it was placed on the list of 58 schools on hold. 

Niamh Ryan travelled to Dublin with her son Liam to deliver letters outlining the conditions at Kolbe along with pictures of the inadequate facilities to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s constituency office on Monday.  

Speaking to the Leinster Express/Laois Live today, she welcomed the announcement but said she wasn’t celebrating just yet. 

“We are cautiously optimistic this afternoon that things are progressing and, according to what we have heard, we will be in contact with the Department of Education in the coming days,” Niamh said.  

“It is definitely progress but we are not getting too excited,” she added. 

Parents, staff, management and pupils at Kolbe Special School were devastated when the new  €9 million school project in Portlaoise was placed on hold last month. 

Having waited 23 years for a new school, preparatory works had just begun at the school when they were informed that the project was being placed on hold on March 6.  

BREAKING: Breakthrough in delay for Laois special school

A public meeting was called and the Prioritise Kolbe committee was established to carry out a campaign to ensure the school would be built. The campaign was gathering momentum and a protest march was being planned if the Department of Education continued to ignore the school stakeholders.