Shock as Moate school building plan faces delays
Over two years after planning permission was granted for a brand new, purpose-built secondary school in Moate, it has now emerged that construction work on the much-needed facility may not now begin until at least 2028.
The Principal of Moate Community School, Tom Lowry, said he was led to believe in a series of meeting with Department of Education representatives in recent weeks that construction work on the new school was “imminent” and expressed his “bitter disappointment” that Moate has once again slipped down the list of priority areas for a new school.
A new post-primary school for Moate is one of seven similar projects that make up Project Dargle, with none of the seven schools being included on a recently-published Department of Education list of 80 large-scale school building projects earmarked to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027.
Tom Lowry said he was “shocked” to learn the school was not on the priority list of 80 schools, and said he will be “seeking further clarification” on the status of the building project as a matter of urgency.
Tom Lowry said the construction of a new school in Moate was one of his “major priorities” at the start of his tenure fourteen years ago.
He now fears that it may be “many more years” before construction work begins.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Youth confirmed to the Westmeath Independent that Moate Community School is currently at Stage 2B of the architectural design process, which allows for “detailed design and planning, statutory permissions and preparation of tender documents.”
While recognising that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in “the first tranche of prioritised projects” including Moate Community School, the department spokesperson said a Department-led “prioritisation process” will continue over 2026 and 2027. “Based on this ongoing prioritisation process some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027,” he added. Among the issues which will be taken into account in assessing the project are prioritisation and urgency of need and the ability to progress each project to tender within the parameters of overall funding.
Where appropriate, the department said they will also assess opportunities to undertake “advance enabling works” for the most urgent and complex projects to “facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond”. The accomodation needs at Moate Community School will form part of the overall prioritisation process “in consultation with the school's patron and school authorities” said the spokesperson.
Moate Community School was first established in 1996 following the amalgamation of the Convent of Mercy Secondary School, the Carmelite College and Moate Vocational School and has seen a steady increase in student numbers to its present cohort of over 900. An additional 400 students are enrolled in further education studies at Moate Business College, which also forms part of the overall school campus.
The proposed new school campus will be a contemporary design spanning an area of 9,600 square metres, and will be constructed in two phases, with the first phase consisting of the demolition of existing school buildings and the construction of a three-storey extension, PE hall, ESB substation, provision of new temporary accommodation and removal and relocation of existing temporary buildings.
The second phase will see the remaining elements of the extension being constructed and the incorporation of the existing St Joseph’s building - which faces onto Main Street and is the only existing building to be kept - into the new extension.
The construction of the new state-of-the-art secondary school in Moate has been devolved for delivery to the National Finance Development Agency (NDFA) and the cost of the building project is estimated to be in the region of €40 million.