Shock at plans to move Donegal Education Centre from Donegal Town to Letterkenny

There are grave concerns in Donegal Town that plans are afoot to move Donegal Education Centre to Letterkenny.

The centre has been in Donegal Town since it opened 27 years ago, and has been in its current suite of offices and training rooms at Dom’s Pier One since the building’s construction in the early 2000s.

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The Donegal Town community is at a loss as to how this relocation can be justified, and not just in terms of moving the organisation to the larger urban centre of Letterkenny. There is also head-scratching as to the spending of public funds on what is viewed as an unnecessary relocation at a time when schools in the county are crying out for new buildings and extensions, or facilities and support staff for pupils with additional needs. 

It is a huge blow to the Donegal Town business community which does not have the strong year-round economy of the much larger town of Letterkenny, and will be a major inconvenience for the centre’s Donegal Town-based staff.

Mayor of Donegal Town Pauric Kennedy said: “This is a move that does not make sense, and it would be a massive loss to Donegal Town.

“The centre has operated very successfully here and there are staff who have worked through more than their fair share of challenges but have kept things running seamlessly. To ask them now to travel to Letterkenny to work, be it full time or on a hybrid basis, is very unfair.

“We are being told to be more green-minded, and here we are talking about relocating six staff to do a round trip of 100km, adding to the congestion in and around Letterkenny, and all of it totally unnecessary. 

“I am told that the reason given for the relocation is that it is ‘inconvenient’ for teachers to travel to Donegal Town for training days once or twice a year. I am at a total loss to see how going to Letterkenny to be stuck in traffic for God knows how long would be any more convenient for them. 

“Any teachers I chat to enjoy coming to Donegal Town. They are not sitting in traffic and they can get parked easily and affordably. 

“And I gather that there are outreach facilities at a few locations around the county to give more localised training, so not everyone has to travel. Moving the education centre to Letterkenny might mean that an outreach centre would no longer be needed in Letterkenny, but any saving would be cancelled out with having to provide an outreach centre in south Donegal instead.

“I am also told that around €15,000 to €20,000 a year is spent locally by the centre on a range of supplies and services. This will be a phenomenal loss to Donegal Town, and then you have the loss of an important anchor tenant in an office building.

“I have seen the facilities in Donegal Education Centre and they are fantastic. I am honestly at a loss to understand how this could be bettered anywhere else.”

Deputy Thomas Pringle (Ind) raised the matter as a question in the Dáil recently.

He told Donegal Live: “Moving the Donegal Education Centre from its current location in Donegal Town makes no sense. Traffic is chockablock in Letterkenny. The centre has been in Donegal Town since it opened. It is very well run and is going from strength to strength.”

Minister for Education Norma Foley responded to his Dáil question, acknowledging that her department had been informed of plans to relocate Donegal Education Centre. But, she stressed, such decisions were ultimately down to local management.

“My Department’s role in relation to ESCs is to resource and monitor to ensure effective operation and focus on teacher professional learning (TPL) activities to bring about positive impact in the classroom in respect of teaching and learning,” she said in reply to Deputy Pringle.

“Decisions about how to run the centre to achieve the best TPL opportunities for all teachers in the ESC catchment area are a matter for the management committee in the first instance.

“My Department has been informed that the management committee is currently considering relocating the centre and that it has engaged with stakeholders in this regard. My Department will continue to engage with the Centre as required to ensure that the Centre is providing optimum supports to fulfil its statutory remit and in line with public financial policy.”

Donegal Live / Donegal Democrat has emailed the Donegal Education Centre Director with a number of questions seeking clarity on the reasons for the move and the cost of relocation. No reply has been received.