Green light for new Kildare school

A NEW secondary school in Kildare Town is set to be built after An Bord Pleanála (ABP) ruled against the objections of two local families who had appealed against the decision to go ahead with the school by Kildare County Council in October.

The long-awaited replacement to the 140-student community college that has been operating for military families in the Curragh Camp since 1933 saw the Department of Education apply to Kildare County Council in October 2023.

It plans to build a two-storey, 37 classroom school for 1,000 students on a 3.25Ha (8ac) site in the former Magee Barracks in town, and will be built over two phases.

Phase one of the build will see just under 5,000sqm of the school, providing 16 classrooms, changing rooms, a general purpose hall, staffroom, and a dining room which will be converted to specialist classrooms when phase Two is completed.

Phase one also includes a temporary permission for an interim entrance on the south facade of the site, and a temporary drop-off area and car park. 

There will eventually be a through road to Melitta Road to the north of the site — practically a bypass in Kildare Town — but it will not be accessible until the second phase is completed, which will see the final 6,000 sqm and 21 classrooms built.

The campus will be almost 11,000sqm, and will share sports facilities with Kildare Town Educate Together and Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha. 

The new Curragh Community College to serve students from south Kildare including Kildare, Newbridge, Milltown, Suncroft and the surrounds was given planning permission in October, however traffic concerns raised by locals with the planning application delayed the go-ahead until the ABP ruling last week.

The plan for the new school will also include a four-classroom special education needs unit, and will be right next to two existing primary schools - Kildare Town Educate Together National School and Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha. 

The new school will also include a 135m road extension with a new entrance off the R413 (Newbridge Road), and this will achieve the council’s road objective for the town by finally developing an alternative link between Melitta Road and the Dublin Road.