€7.5 million development for Kilkenny school

In 2015, Loreto opened a special class for students with Moderate General Learning Disabilities and the class has gone from strength to strength with demand for places very high.  The new suite of rooms will allow the school to cater for four additional classes, including Autism units, further strengthening Loreto’s commitment to inclusion.  This suite of rooms will include four main classrooms, a large shared space, four ‘quiet spaces’, a living skills room, sensory rooms and garden.

Colm Keher, Loreto principal, said he was absolutely thrilled with the news.  He said, " I expect that the extension would be completed by September 2025 and would be a fantastic addition to the school."

He thanked the Department of Education who shared Loreto’s vision of what is required to meet the needs of students in the context of a modern curriculum. 

Tony Joyce, Chairperson of the Board of Management, was equally delighted and said that the Board and senior management team in the school had been working on the project for a year now. "It is lovely to see that the hard work has paid off’, he said. 

The Board is now commencing the process of tendering for a design team and it is expected that the project will be in its planning phase for almost two years before construction commences.