'Poor relation' Principal speaks as huge Laois Offaly secondary school seeks planning approval

As plans go on show for the newest and biggest secondary school in Laois and Offaly, its principal has decried the long 10 year wait so far to get to planning stage.

"We have been maybe too patient...," Coláiste Iosagáin principal Justin Brown told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

The school on Bog Road is the former girls secondary school, designed to fit 750 pupils but now with over 1,100 students squeezed in on a campus crowded with eight prefabs. It is the only secondary school in Portarlington and a wide area around it in both Laois and Offaly.

The exciting plans, submitted to Offaly County Council, display a spacious school for 1,300 pupils, to be built on the playing pitches behind the existing school. The old school will then be knocked to be replaced with new playing pitches and parking at the front of the site.

A spacious GP hall in the planned new school.

It will take several more years yet before the school will be ready, with the next step being a yes from the planners, a decision due in late September. 

Mr Brown said it has been a long road already, describing the planning application as an important milestone. 

The plan grew in that time as Portarlington itself grew to become part of the Dublin commuter belt.

"A design team was initially appointed in 2014 when Seamus Bennett was Principal. Between then and now there have been a number of changes. The remit went from an extension to a totally new build. Initially to cater for 1200 pupils but now that has been extended to 1300 pupils.

The existing school, with the planning notice in place. Photo: Leinster Express.

"This has been a long time coming. We have been very patient – may be too patient and waited our turn while other schools were constructed/renovated. The students, staff and community of Portarlington are just as entitled to a modern post primary school as any other town. We do not expect preferential treatment but on the other hand we don’t expect to be the ‘poor relation’ either.

"Thankfully the two main primary schools in the town, Presentation Primary and St Patrick’s BNS have received new builds over the past number of years.

"We are one of the largest if not largest school in Laois and Offaly with an enrolment of over 1100 pupils. We are in a school that was built for 750 students with eight blocks of prefabs.

"While we take great pride in our buildings and school we are looking forward to our new build. While we have waited this long one of the advantages is the building will be up to date with the most modern of facilities," he said.

The overall site plan for the new Coláiste Iosagáin in Portarlington.

"The absence of a new building has not impacted the development of our school – thanks to our hard working and dedicated staff. This year we are introducing PE and Computer Science to our Leaving Certificate Curriculum and Spanish into First Year. We have also been chosen as a pilot school for the new Leaving Certificate subject Climate Action and Sustainable Development in 2025. We have also just completed an Inspection of our successful Leaving Certificate Applied programme where eight of our LCA 2 students were the first in the Country to take the Maths Leaving Certificate Established paper," the principal said.

Mr Brown notes all who have helped so far with the project.

"The school and Board of Management would like to acknowledge the work of the Design Team lead by Keith Major of Kennedy Fitzgerald Architects of Belfast. The Design Team also includes local company MJ Turley. The officials in the Building Unit of the Department have also been very helpful and are as keen to see the development underway as the school. Cathal Berry, the local TD made the construction of a new school a priority and has worked accordingly.

"We would also like to thank the Presentation Sisters as it is on the land that they donated initially that the school will be built upon. Although we now under the trusteeship of CEIST we are mindful of our roots as both Presentation Sisters and Christian
Brothers schools prior to the amalgamation. Lastly but by no means least we would like to acknowledge our students, staff, parents (past and present) and the community of Portarlington who have always been so supportive of our school.

"As a sole provider we are very conscious of our obligations to the community and the students we serve. Therefore, while a milestone has been reached we will not rest easy until we see the construction of our new school. Opened in 2000, in 2025 we will celebrate our Silver Jubilee. This news is a nice way to start off our celebrations," Justin Brown said.