Official opening of Athlone's Coláiste Chiaráin taking place on Friday

The official opening of Athlone's newest secondary school will take place later this week.

The €20 million new school building at Coláiste Chiaráin in Summerhill, which came into use during the early months of the pandemic in August 2020, will be formally opened this Friday, May 5, at 1pm.

The school's patron, Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran, will carry out the official opening, while Minister of State Peter Burke is due to attend as a representative of the Government.

The opening will be followed by refreshments and a tour of the school facilities, which were constructed by contractor JJ Rhatigan in 2019 and 2020.

The new three-storey school was designed to cater for up to 1,000 students, and included a gymnasium and fitness suite, six science laboratories, a library and canteen, and 37 general classrooms.

Some 770 students are currently enrolled in Coláiste Chiaráin.

The school was founded in 2017, as an amalgamation of the all-boys St Aloysius College and the all-girls St Joseph's College, Summerhill.