UPDATE: Emergency works application for Kildare school is progressing, Senator says

An emergency works application for one County Kildare school is progressing, a Senator has asserted.

Fianna Fáil Senator Fiona O’Loughlin has said that the emergency works application for Curragh Community College has progressed this week.

She also revealed that pricing reports are due to be submitted to the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, or KWETB (The organisation notably made headlines earlier this week when it was reported that four men had been charged following a garda investigation into alleged corrupt practices at the KWETB). 

Senator O'Loughlin's comments follow after she criticised the "appalling" conditions at the school last week, and a month before that, several other local representatives had hit out at the conditions of the school.

EXPECTED SUBMISSIONS

Now, Senator O'Loughlin, who also has a background in education, specified that the architects’ report, which includes pricing from roofing contractors, will be submitted to the KWETB by Tuesday, February 3, 2026.

Following this, the KWETB is expected to submit the completed application, along with the report, to the Department of Education and Youth the next day.

She elaborated: "The Department is already aware of the application and is ready to move forward once it is received.

"The update comes just days after the Department of Education announced the inclusion of Curragh Community College among nine school building projects in Kildare under the Education Sectoral Plan.

"The plan includes a new school building for Curragh Community College with capacity for 1,000 pupils and provisions for special educational needs.

"The schools included in the plan are scheduled to progress to tender and or construction in 2026 and 2027."

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'WE CANNOT IGNORE REALITY'

The Newbridge-based politician further said that while she welcomes the progression of the project, she stressed: "We cannot ignore the reality on the ground".

She added: "Immediate emergency works are needed to make the existing building fit for purpose while the new school moves towards construction."

Senator O'Loughlin also revealed: "I have recently asked the Minister for Education [Hildegarde Naughton TD] to visit the school with me so she can see first-hand how urgent these repair works are; that invitation stands."

Concluding her statement, she said: "We need to get emergency works completed, and I will continue to make the case to the Department and the Minister that this happens sooner rather than later; at the heart of this [situation] is staff and student safety [and] ensuring that they have the adequate facilities they deserve to learn and work."

Fianna Fáil Senator Fiona O'Loughlin. File photograph

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