St. Mary’s National School officially open – Bannon

Fine Gael Longford/Westmeath TD, James Bannon, has today (Thursday) said the opening of the midlands’ largest primary school, St. Mary’s National School, will have a positive impact on Edgeworthstown and the wider community.

Speaking at the official opening of the new school, Deputy Bannon said “St. Mary’s is a state of the art school, which will be home to 500 pupils, 30 teachers and 8 special needs assistants.

“I am delighted that after many years of campaigning for a new school by the local community, the official opening day of St. Mary’s, has finally arrived. I compliment them on their efforts, which have culminated in the largest school in the midlands opening in Edgeworthstown.

“As the local TD, I am immensely proud of the substantial educational investment we are making.  It is creating real educational opportunities for this generation of children in our community, and the next.

“I have strongly argued that as our economy improves we need to secure a dividend for education.  Investment in education is good for our economy, good for society and most importantly good for our younger generations.  We are finally seeing a real improvement in the Irish economy – growth is strong, consumer confidence is recovering and most importantly employment is growing.  The official opening of a modern school likes St. Mary’s shows that we are on the right track.

“The opening of St. Mary’s is fantastic news for students, staff, parents and the Board of Management. They deserve to have a state of the art school that compliments the excellent education on offer. I wish them well for the future.”