Fury at Taoiseach in Kilkenny after a 'decade of broken promises'

Councillors have vented their fury in the county council chamber after the Kilkenny Education Campus was omitted from the Sectoral Investment Plan for Education and Youth, despite years of promises and millions already spent.

First promised in 2008, the project - to comprise of a new building for Kilkenny City Vocational School and Coláiste Pobail Osraí in the western environs of the city - received a renewed commitment in 2015.

In January 2025, an official letter of intent was issued, enabling works were green-lighted, and €3.5 million of public money has already been spent.

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Architects have been appointed, enabling works on the new site have been completed, and both schools are at full capacity.

The next stage – tender and construction – is ready to proceed.

According to senior government sources, the Taoiseach has agreed to meet the school stakeholders including Cathy McSorley, Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School; Cathnia Ó Muircheartaigh, Principal of Coláiste Pobail Osraí; and Cllr Deirdre Cullen, Chair of the Board of Management.

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Speaking at the most recent plenary meeting of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr Deirdre Cullen hit out at the fact the green field site is now ‘lying derelict’.

She proposed that all elected members write to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton.

Cllr Séan Ó hArgáin supported the proposal, but added that local oireachtas members ‘should’ve been animated’ before funding allocations were published.

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He said there seems to be an emerging ‘pattern’ where ‘ETB schools are pushed down to the bottom of the list’, adding that both schools have endured ‘a decade of broken promises’.

Cllr David Fitzgerald raised concern that although housing delivery is continuing in the western environs of the city, education facilities such as the Kilkenny School Campus are not.

“Where are our Fianna Fáil TDs,” he asked, a comment that drew a reaction from Cllr Joe Malone, who suggested that the Fine Gael councillor reach out to Tánaiste Simon Harris.

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Cllr Jenny Catt Slattery, who works as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) at Kilkenny City Vocational School, outlined to elected members a laundry list of limitations and challenges at the current school campus.

“We have to bring these kids down through the town to get exercise,” she said.

Cllr Joe Malone, a current member of the vocational school’s board of management, added that he supported Cllr Cullen’s proposal.

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Cllr Pat Fitzpatrick also lent his support, stating that he was educated at the vocational school where he was taught by Mick Crotty.

Cllr Maria Dollard stressed that the autism unit in the school is ‘one of the best in country’ and commended the staff, despite their limited current resources and site constraints.

Rounding out the discussion, Cllr Deirdre Cullen stated that the proposal is not about political ‘point scoring’ but about fulfilling a promise that students and staff in Kilkenny deserve.

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