For immediate release, 16 February 2010
Educate Together welcomes the Department of Education and Science’s sanctioning of a new Educate Together school for Holywell Swords this September. The school is one of seven that will be opened in 2010, two of which will be managed by Educate Together.
The selection of Swords is a vindication of the dedication and hard work of the local community and in particular, the Residents Association of Holywell. The decision also recognises the need to respect local parental choice and invest in appropriate education infrastructure.
Educate Together Regional Development Officer for North Leinster, Gerry McKevitt stated ‘We have worked hard for this day. Swords is a vibrant community that is vocal about education preference for its children. A new Educate Together school is badly needed, as there are long waiting lists for our other schools in the area. We await with anticipation the Department’s recommendation for the school’s accommodation plans’.
The new Swords Educate Together School has been over two years in the making. Educate Together established its first school in Swords in 2001 and opened a second in Thornleigh in 2008. As waiting lists started to grow for both schools, Educate Together held a public launch for a pre-enrolment list and was sufficiently encouraged by demand to submit a formal application to the Department.
Educate Together is a recognised patron body and the fastest growing provider of primary school education in Ireland today. It operates schools based on the delivery of ‘equality of access and esteem to children irrespective of their social, cultural or religious backgrounds’. Set up in the 1970s by volunteers and educationalists, it now operates 56 schools throughout the country and has applied to open 45 primary and its first secondary schools in the next few years. It is an independent educational charity that is supported by small government grants and extensive private fundraising. See www.educatetogether.ie for further information.
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For further information or to arrange an interview with Gerry McKevitt, please contact
John Holohan
Educate Together Communications Manager
087 2035750
