VIDEO: Mercy School’s €20m building nearly ready

By Shane King

After many years of waiting, the new €20m building for Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan is on track to open for the 2023/24 school year.

Works on the new school in September of 2021 began after an almost 16-year wait. Since the project was first mooted, the number of students attending the school has increased significantly, and the figure is expected to rise further in the coming years.

Principal Garrett Farrell said it will be a “state of the art campus” and when the students and staff move in “they won’t know themselves”.

“We have been waiting since 2005 for the new school. We have always said that ‘this is happening, this is happening’, and now it is actually happening. It’s great that we are now able to make the dream come true for everybody.”

The new two-storey building will include general teaching and administration rooms, a four-classroom special educational needs unit, PE hall and fitness suites, full size all-weather pitch, two construction rooms, an engineering room and high tech multimedia rooms.

Currently there is a widespread sense of anticipation as the students and staff spend their final term in the old school, and deputy principal Bernadette Gallen says there is “huge excitement” as they prepare to move.

“The big thing for us is that we are such a happy school with such happy students. We want to bring with us that sense of joy and family to the new campus. If we can be as happy up the road as we are here, we are going to be a very happy new school.”

The school is currently putting a final push to complete the project and have set up a GoFundMe page to raise, where they say: ‘We are very excited about this move, and we are actively raising funds to enhance and complete the many state-of-the-art features of our new school.’

Mr Farrell is inviting anyone involved in the school community past or present to contribute: “If there is anyone out there who would like to donate, we would very much appreciate that.”

“Obviously it is a hugely expensive project and the Department of Education is putting huge money into this – however, there are some things we just want to add on and make the school as special as possible, like as I mentioned the all-weather pitch, we need to raise funds for that.”

The new building marks a new chapter in the history of Mercy Kilbeggan. The first building was erected in 1954 by the Sisters of Mercy. Since then, the school has adapted and changed over the decades and is now making a big leap, in moving up the road to their new campus 500 metres from the original school in September.

• Shane King is a TY student at Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan.