Minister ‘keen’ to progress Cavan College of the Future
Opportunities available for young people after leaving school were on display on Monday (November 24) morning as the Minister for Higher Education James Lawless visited County Cavan.
As the minister embarked on a tour around Cavan’s Youthreach building, he was warmly welcomed by many students and tutors in the kitchen, where he curated cream and jam pastry slices; the woodwork room where he marked out and cut a piece of wood; the computer room where he played a team building game and the podcasting room where students Ethan O’Flaherty and Charlie Tate, along with their tutor Aidan Carroll, were in the midst of producing a podcast on exotic birds.
Getting the podcast whittled down to exactly 45 minutes was the challenge the trio were embarking on, as various ministers, TDs councillors, senators and media filled their podcasting space. The minister himself also had the task of seeing the importance of the facility and what they do for young people in a short time, before visiting Cavan Institute and Monaghan Institute later in the day.
Cavan Youthreach is currently operating at capacity with 50 participants, and around 10 waiting to avail of their services. The facility allows early school leavers aged between 15-20 years to pick up a trade and learn new skills.
Speaking on opportunities for young people after leaving school, the Minister stated that he is a “big supporter” of the Cavan College of the Future programme, which is something is working on with Minister Niamh Smyth and Deputy Brendan Smith.
A new €40 million College of The Future for Cavan is set to be developed on the site of the existing main campus on the Cathedral Road.
“I’m very keen that that project will be one of the first to advance to the next stage,” he revealed to the Celt.
“I’ll meet the team, we’ll get into the nitty gritty in terms of planning, procurement, tender; all these big capital expenditure projects have a number of gates to go through,” he said.
The project is currently at the Pre-tender, Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy stage where is has been since December 2024.
However the Minister added: “I would be very keen to move ahead as quickly as we can.”
“There is a need for a significant facility in Cavan and the border area and it’s well placed to meet that need.”
Minister of State Niamh Smyth praised the CMETB board and staff and the Youthreach facility, adding that she is “delighted” that Minister Lawless came to visit.
“Cavan Institute is something that I feel very passionate about,” she said.
“It is over two years ago since it [the College of the Future project] was first announced, I know the college themselves have been chomping at the bit to get this across the line.
“It is a college that is the victim of its own success, bursting at the seams, got the students coming but needs space to allow capacity to grow. On top of that we have a fabulous site that is ready to go,” she added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Brendan Smith stated that Minister Lawless “complimented the work and success of the Institute over the years and was very positive in relation to progressing the major new building project”.
“Having a long association with the Institute and having been chair of the first Board of Management, I will be glad to continue to work closely with the Institute, CMETB and Minister Lawless to ensure that the new accommodation is provided at the earliest possible date.”
Speaking at the Minister’s visit to Youthreach, Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF) stated that Youthreach is in operation for 36 years and praised the “wonderful work” by students and staff alike.