When Coolmine Community School opened in 1974, it was one of Ireland's first community schools and a trail-blazer for education. It had an enviable mix of academic achievements, extracurricular activities and social activity. For many in Dublin West, it represented a modern community with a strong sense of identity and pride. Many of the parents of students attending today are former students who remember that pride. More than 50 years later, however, the building remains largely unchanged. While Blanchardstown has grown into one of Ireland's largest and most dynamic communities, the spaces where our students learn have been left behind. The young people of today deserve facilities that are as ambitious as they are, and that match the quality of education they are getting at Coolmine. Very recently the school's patron and the board of management submitted an application for a new school building under the major capital works programme. I have looked at the figures. Between 2015 and 2023, over seven years, €750,000 was put into emergency works. More has gone in since I was elected. Can the Tánaiste encourage the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to visit the school, which I am doing, and give its development the priority it really deserves?

Sentiment score: 0.17