Member's statement: St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh
Member's statement by Mr Cathal Boylan on .
- MLA
- Mr Cathal Boylan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 7 October 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5164464
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Last week, I met staff from St Patrick's Grammar School in Armagh. That school has a long history in Armagh, as it was established in 1838. The school building has been developed and added to over the years. It is now home to over 850 pupils and 120 staff. However, with any long-standing building come issues to do with maintenance and upkeep. St Patrick's is no different. Both the original school building and the two-storey wing that was added to the school in 1907 are uninsulated. Therefore, they are having an adverse impact on the school's interior. Areas of the external render are cracked, and moisture has subsequently been trapped and sealed in the walls, causing issues internally with dampness. The school's windows and heating system are in much need of major attention. The heating in the school is primarily a one-pipe system, and it is inefficient to operate. The boiler and pumps are far away from the 1907 block, and it requires a large volume of water to be heated and fed through the system. Staff tell me that the radiators never get hot; they are tepid at best. Following the meeting on 26 September 2025 with the architects, the design team and the Education Authority (EA), it was noted that the team had explored various options that will be issued to the DE for consideration. I am therefore using my Member's statement to call on the Education Minister to urgently review the recommendations that have been made and to work with the school to overcome the issues that it faces.
In closing, I commend the staff for their best efforts to ensure that the issues do not affect the learning needs of their pupils, who deserve a safe and healthy environment to learn and study in. The need for the Department and the EA to provide a comfortable environment is paramount, and I will continue to work with the school to achieve that development.
326 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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