Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD visits the school to turn the sod on ASD Classroom Extension

On Thursday 26h February 2026 we welcomed the Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton T.D. to officially turn the sod on our new ASD Special Class extension. We were delighted to have the Minister visit to mark the beginning of this is a significant step forward in supporting inclusive education within our school. The new ASD special class build will provide much-needed space and facilities to support our students. Minister Naughton was welcomed on arrival by our Principal Ms Sorcha Ní Dhonnacha, Deputy Principal Mr Damien Wallace, Chairperson of the Board of Management @PeggyNolan, and Chief Executive of Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board Ms Siobhan Lynch. She was also welcomed by our staff including teachers, SNAs and ancillary staff who were proud to show her around.Before the sod-turning ceremony, our school community gathered to for speeches from Minister Naughton along with speeches from Chairperson of BOM Peggy Nolan CE LWETB Sharon Lynch and Principal Ms Ní Dhonnacha who also thanked the Minister for visiting and supporting this project. During her visit, the Minister met some of our First-Year Coding students and was presented with flowers by 5th yr Ella Sheridan. She also met with the building team to view the plans for the new extension.  It was a lovely occasion for our whole school community and an important step forward as we begin this exciting new chapter. We look forward to seeing this extension take shape and to the continued development of our school as we strive to provide the very best facilities and support for all of our students.

Photo Credit: John McCauley