Athlone Training Centre to get new classroom and workshop facilities

It's hoped that work will get underway next month on the provision of new electrical workshop and classroom facilities at the Athlone Training Centre in Garrycastle.

The Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board (LWETB) recently invited contractors to submit bids to carry out the work, saying it was hoped construction could start in "early July".

The construction project will involve internal alteration works in two buildings on the training centre's campus in order to provide three electrical workshops and two classrooms, as well as ancillary accommodation and services.

Companies interested in bidding to carry out the work have until Friday, July 7, to submit tenders for the project.

The LWETB said it was hoped the works would be completed "by late January 2024, subject to agreement of the contract programme."

Last September, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris, visited the Athlone Training Centre where he announced a multi-million euro investment in further education facilities on its campus.

The Minister announced that a new Further Education and Training centre would be created next to the existing Athlone Training Centre, and said this would "enable the consolidation of existing services to one central location and provide a more campus education feel for our learners."