Work begins on £72m shared campus in Ballycastle

The principals of two County Antrim Schools have said they are delighted to see work start on a new shared campus.

The £72m investment will bring together Ballycastle High School and Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle.

They will remain separate schools but share some classes and facilities.

On Friday Education Minister Paul Givan cut the first sod at the site of the new Ballycastle Shared Education Campus.

Construction began in May and the project is due to be completed in 2027.

The plan for the shared campus was originally approved by the former education minister John O'Dowd in 2014.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has contributed £3.8m to enhance the sports facilities for community use.

Speaking at the site, Mr Givan said he was delighted to see building work begun, which he said would see pupils "able to get a quality curriculum taught in 21st century modern facilities”.

“It's a £72m project and the council has supported the scheme," the minister added.

"So we're going to have superb sporting facilities there for the community to use outside of school as well."

He said shared education doesn’t mean the erasing of individual school identities.

“People can be proud of who they are and where they come from," Mr Givan said.

He said having respect for each other and sharinglearning experiences together "enriches our society and it will really enrich Ballycastle and it's what we want to see across Northern Ireland”.

Principal of Ballycastle High School Ian Williamson said it was a “fantastic day for Ballycastle High School and indeed Cross and passion College”.

He said one benefit of the shared campus is that students “will not get wet walking backwards and forwards between schools”.

“They'll be delighted to be in the one suite of buildings," he said, which, he said, would "work alongside the concepts of shared learning that we have established over many, many years".

Joe Cassidy, vice-principal of Cross and Passion College, said the new facilities will be “the envy of all the people in Northern Ireland”.

“The sporting aspect of the facilities will be top of the range and that then brings in the whole community," he said.

Eloise McCurdy, 18, a pupil at Ballycastle High and a member of the joint school council, made up of pupils from both schools, she says the council has achieved a lot already by working together.

“We got the crossing put in between the two schools and we've changed the bell times so that we would finish at the same time," she said.

Rioana MacAuley, 18, from Cross and Passion, and she has enjoyed being part of the lobbying for the new shared campus.

“We’ve been to meet government leaders and political meetings, different conferences, to make sure that we are being heard within our environment," she said.

"But also so that Northern Ireland as a whole gets to learn about how we’ve come together despite what people think are big problems."