School 'buzzing' as new £58m campus opens
The new facilities at St Ronan's College in Lurgan can accommodate 1,750 pupils
- Published
A secondary school in Lurgan in County Armagh welcomed almost 300 Year 8 pupils to its new £58m campus on Monday.
St Ronan's College opened in September 2015, following the amalgamation of St Mary's High School, St Paul's Junior High School and St Michael's Grammar School.
The secondary school - which has been waiting more than a decade for its new building - is now the second-largest in Northern Ireland with a capacity for 1,750 pupils
School principal Fiona Kane said they are "so excited" to welcome pupils to the new facilities.
Principal Fiona Kane said her "heart and soul" has gone into the new school building
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Mrs Kane said she was "absolutely buzzing" to be able to open the school to the new Year 8 pupils.
She described the design as "absolutely outstanding" and said they have "been so lucky and blessed to have so much support from the community and local businesses to be able to enhance the design".
Mrs Kane said she had a lot of involvement in the internal design of the school and became somewhat of an "amateur internal designer" in "picking out the colours and nods to all the history and heritage and the rich, rich history of Lurgan".
'Passion project'
Ms Kane described the new school as a "real passion project"
Construction commenced on site in April 2023.
Mrs Kane said her "heart and soul" has gone into the development and described it as a "real passion project".
"We did a time lapse video on the first day and when I saw it I was sitting in my office by myself, I literally was in tears because I remembered all the meetings, the hours and hours of work that nobody sees, and all the fight has been absolutely worth it," she said.
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"Good learning and teaching can take place in any kind of conditions but there's no doubt the learning environment makes such a huge impact and a huge difference to people, Mrs Kane added.
"Our teachers are saying it's a pleasure to come into work every day and we are so excited to welcome our brand new Year 8's today, I just can't wait to see their wee faces."
St Ronan's College had operated on a split since it was established in September 2015