Belfast Irish-medium school set for long-awaited move

The only Irish-medium school in south and east Belfast is set for a long-awaited move.

Work has begun to demolish a former Education Authority (EA) building on the Ormeau Road so that a new Scoil an Droichid can be built.

The school originally opened in 1996 in Cooke Street in the lower Ormeau area.

Since then it has been housed in a collection of mobile classrooms - some of which are in a poor state - rather than a permanent building.

Scoil an Droichid has grown to become one of the largest Irish-medium primaries in the city.

In the 2018/19 school year, it had 179 pupils from pre-school to primary seven.

The school also includes a nurture unit to provide additional targeted help for pupils with social, emotional or behavioural needs.

As its pupil numbers have risen steadily in recent years, the school has outgrown its home, which is why it is set to move to the new school less than a mile from its current site.

Ulidia Resource Centre, just off South Parade, was a former primary school that was more recently an EA facility.

Work began on Friday to demolish it so that a new seven-classroom school with a nursery, library and sports hall can be built.

Play areas for Scoil an Droichid's pupils will also be developed.

Scoil an Droichid's principal Fionnguala McCotter said the school community was delighted that progress on a new school was finally being made.

"We have been waiting on this for a number of years," she said.

"The project has been on hold for different reasons, but the demolition is a significant step.

"Some of the primary six and seven children know they will miss out on going to the new school but they are still excited."

While a date for work on the new school building has yet to be confirmed, a development plan published by the EA in May 2019 said that Scoil An Droichid could be operating on its new site from July 2020.

When Scoil an Droichid originally opened in 1996, the number of pupils in Irish-medium education was still relatively tiny.

In 2001/02, for instance, there were only 652 pupils in 10 Irish-medium primary schools in the whole of Northern Ireland.

By 2018/19, that had grown to 4,351 pupils in 28 primary schools.

There are also plans to open the first Irish-medium school in east Belfast in future years.