The Abbey Christian Brothers School in Newry is to get £5 million from the Department of Education to purchase a site for a new school building. The announcement, which was made by Minister for Education, Martin McGuinness, is the first move under the new reinvestment and reform initiative.
“This announcement marks a special day not just for the pupils teachers and parents at the Abbey, but for the entire local community,” said Mr McGuinness.
Principal, Dermot McGovern said he was delighted with the investment. “It is very appropriate that we have received the money in this year which is the bi-centenary of the Christian Brothers in Ireland.”The new site, which has already been identified, comprises of 23 acres of land and although the £5 million will buy the site, it will cost another £15 million to build the school. “The Abbey School was built in 1966 to teach 450 students, it now has 850 pupils who are using both the main building and mobile structures and it will be a relief to get into a new building,” said Mr McGovern.
The school has been named as top Northern Ireland Boys School for the past three years. Past pupils include Seamus Mallon, Kieran Goss, golfer Ronan Rafferty and Down All Star, Sean O’Neill.