Former St Peter’s school site to be made available for educational use, says Minister
By Brendan Grehan
THE FORMER site of St Peter’s boys national school in Greenhills is to be made available for educational use.
Last week in the Dáil, following a question put down by Pat Rabbitte, the Minister for Education, Jan O’Sullivan told the Dáil: “My Department officials and representatives of the Dublin Archdiocese and of the local parish have agreed that the property (St Peter’s BNS) will be made available to the Department for educational use.
My officials are continuing to work closely with the Archdiocesan authorities on the practicalities of the property issues involved and work is well advanced in this regard.”
Local councillor, Dermot Looney welcomed the news. He told The Echo: “While there are no firm details on who will use the site, it is welcome news and I am hopeful that the site will be able to serve the needs of our community in a new form into the future.”
Cllr Looney said that over the past few month he had spoken with local people, including parents seeking alternative patronage models for their children, regarding the site of St Peter’s BNS on Limekiln Road which was vacated last June following the merger which formed the new Holy Spirit National Schools.
He said that there had been local concerns regarding any possible inappropriate development at a school site which has served the wider community for almost 50 years.
Cllr Looney added: “As a result, I put down a motion to the SDCC County Development Plan to protect the site. I secured the agreement of other councillors and my motion was inserted as C9 SLO 2 in the Draft Development Plan.
This policy seeks “To only permit development of educational, community facilities or older peoples’ housing at the site of St Peter’s BNS.”
“Simply put, it means that alternative development cannot take place. I view the passing of my motion and its insertion into the Development Plan as a hugely important step in protecting the site from inappropriate development in the interests of our community.”
