Schools Administration
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-04
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Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I thank Senator Andrews. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss Synge Street CBS becoming a Gaelcholáiste. The Department of Education and Youth is working with the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, ERST, to ensure the successful transition of Synge Street CBS to a co-educational Gaelcholáiste on a phased basis. The first phase of this transition will involve the first year intake only, which will take place in September 2026. The work has included regular communications and meetings between the parties involved in the transition to a Gaelcholáiste, including the Department of education.
In regard to the accommodation requirements of the school, officials from the Department have visited the school and conducted an assessment of the its immediate needs. A project manager has been appointed to oversee these accommodation requirements. The anticipated work that will be required is currently being reviewed by the Department. It is intended to advance these accommodation requirements as quickly as possible and the necessary work will be completed in time for the Gaelcholáiste to receive its first students in September 2026.
With respect to the Christian Brothers' monastery located close to Synge Street CBS, the Department of education has no plans to acquire this property from the Christian Brothers. There is already extensive and adequate school provision at the Synge Street site. For this reason, the monastery mentioned by Senator Andrews does not form part of the Department’s plans for the Gaelcholáiste. While the acquisition of the monastery is not part of the Department’s project plan, the relevant sections within my Department have been notified of the intention of the Christian Brothers to sell the property in the near future.
In relation to the Gaelcholáiste, my Department has identified the necessary work to be carried out on Synge Street CBS to enable it to transition from an English-medium, single-sex post-primary school to a co-educational Gaelcholáiste on a gradual basis over the next five years. In the meantime, my Department intends to utilise available space in Bunscoil Synge Street, a Gaelscoil on the same site as the future Gaelcholáiste. The bunscoil will require some minor realignment work, which will take place over the summer months. The Synge Street CBS patrons and the future patrons of the Gaelcholáiste, the ERST and other relevant parties have been kept informed of the Department’s proposed works.
It is worth noting that, while conducting a survey of the available space in the bunscoil, it came to the Department’s attention that a private language school not connected with the Department was utilising space within the building without the knowledge of the Department. The patrons have been notified of our Department’s requirement for this space also.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-04