Posted online: Nov 12th, 2009

By Sinéad Flanagan
Editor

PARENTS, teachers and children were celebrating in Athy on Monday when their new Gaelscoil was officially opened.
Though the school opened in 2004, the group have been waiting since then for a permanent school to be built. With eight classrooms, the 144 pupil school in Tomard has gone from strength to strength since opening.
Having cost in the region of €3.5m to build, principal Sinéad Nî Nualtain said she is thrilled with how it has turned out. “It’s the biggest present that Santie could have brought us, even if he was a bit early. All Irish eyes were smiling today (Monday).”
“When any new school opens they open on temporary recognition. We received permanent recognition in March 2007 and have been campaigning since then,” she says.
The school originally opened its doors in the community centre on the Kilkenny Road in Athy. Here, teachers and students had to clear away all of their work each evening and leave the hall in the same way they got it as it was needed for other community events when school finished, Ms Nî Nualtain said. Having moved from there a few months later, the principal says the new building will allow the school to grow and develop as it should.