Paul Givan to be invited to visit St. Columba’s Primary School which is under threat of closure

Earlier this month it was announced that Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) put forward a proposal to the Education Authority to close the Newbuildings school, which opened in 1955, next August.

During September’s council meeting, UUP alderman Darren Guy proposed that council write to Mr Givan, asking that he visit the school and speak with parents and staff, in order to ‘understand just what the school stands for and how its loss would be detrimental to the entire village’.

In response to a request by fellow Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson, Mayor Grace Uí Niallais, also confirmed that she has made plans to personally visit the school.

Speaking to his motion, Alderman Guy said that St Columba’s had become ‘more than just a school’.

“It’s part of the fabric of Newbuildings and an integral part of life in the village.

“Sports teams host there regularly, as do all our different groups and so on, and it’ll be a sad loss to the village,” he said.

DUP Alderman Niree McMorris said she had written to the Minister and, as the former Board of Governors member of the neighbouring, controlled Newbuildings Primary School, she praised St Columba’s as a ‘great example of shared education’.

“It’s an example of great shared community and shared education,” she said.

“Bearing in mind Newbuildings [Primary] School actually cooks dinners and everything for St Columba’s, and they’re transferred.

“So there is a history too of those schools working in partnership for a long number of years and I just think it would be a travesty if that school was closed.

“We also need to be mindful that there’s a lot of progression regarding new houses being built in the area, so I think this school has the potential to grow.”

People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin seconded Alderman Guy’s motion and requested that council invite school staff to a future council or Committee meeting, while SDLP councillor Martin Reilly noted an online petition to keep the school open, which has received over 3,000 signatures.

“It’s great to see the rallying of public support right across the council district for this,” he added.

“At our SDLP public meeting last week members of the public raised this with us, and our MLAs and MP, Colum Eastwood, have been making representations and raising this in the Chamber and in the Assembly.

“I agree with Alderman McMorris’ point; it’s not only for those citizens who live in Newbuildings currently, there are many more new homes planned, so it’s for families that are yet to come, as well as ensuring that those pupils that are there at the moment get the best education.”

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools submitted a proposal to the Education Authority for the discontinuation of the school in 2027.

speaking after the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools submitted a proposal to the Education Authority for the discontinuation of the school in 2027.