Landmark Strule shared education campus faces further delay

The full opening of a landmark shared education campus in Omagh is facing another delay.

Education Minister Michelle McIlveen has now said the Strule Shared Education Campus is planned to open in September 2026.

The minister clarified the new date in response to an assembly question from the SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan.

The campus had originally been due to open in 2020, but has been delayed a number of times.

The estimated cost of the project has also risen substantially to about £230m according to figures previously released by the minister in November 2021.

She said £46m had already been spent and a further £184m was required to complete the campus, meet running costs and provide support to the six schools for shared curriculum activities.

It had been originally estimated to cost £168m, according to the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

The campus is meant to be paid for using money from the 2015 Fresh Start Agreement.

The DUP's Michelle McIlveen also said the cost of the campus had risen substantially

Strule is the biggest school-building project ever in Northern Ireland but Arvalee Special School, which opened in 2016, is the only one of six schools to be built so far.

More than 4,000 pupils are eventually expected to move into new schools on the site of the former Lisanelly Army base.

Loreto Grammar School, Omagh High School, Sacred Heart College, Omagh Academy and Christian Brothers Grammar School are set to relocate to the campus alongside Arvalee School.

The procurement process for a contractor to build Strule was suspended in 2018 but a fresh invitation to tender was released by the Department of Education in December 2021.

In her written answer to Mr McCrossan, Ms McIlveen outlined the new timetable for Strule.

"On the current programme timetable, subject to all necessary approvals being in place, contract award is planned for early 2023," she said.

"Assuming successful appointment of a main works contractor and following the pre-construction design period, campus construction is due to begin on site in the spring of 2023."

It "is currently planned to complete early 2026, with potential partial opening of some facilities in academic year 2025/26 and full campus opening planned for September 2026," the minister concluded.