Minister for Education Mary Hanafin announced last Sunday that €544m will be spent on next year's school building programme. More than half the total will fund new schools and extensions to existing schools, while some €100m will be allocated to a summer works scheme which will allow repairs and maintenance work on around 1,000 schools. The end result will be 15,000 places in new schools and 45,000 places in extensions and refurbished classrooms.
Speaking at the conclusion of a four-month period of studying at NUI Galway, actor Martin Sheen referred to the period as "the most extraordinary adventure". The star of "Apocalypse Now" said he had always dreamt of returning to his mother's native country to study, having never attended university. Speaking on Monday, prior to most of the week's violence, the actor commented, "I have never felt more at home. Ireland to me is the safest place on earth".
About Me
- Liam Ferrie
- After a career in the IT sector I spent the final 25 years of my working life, along with my wife Pauline, as online publisher to the Irish Diaspora. From 1987 onward the email version of the Irish Emigrant became a vital link with home for many Irish people who had settled overseas. In retirement I am involved with the Computer and Communications Museum of Ireland. I also travel when the opportunity arises and most years Pauline and I walk a Camino to Santiago de Compostela.