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New school to open its doors in September

By Grace Harris

THE new St. Marys' multi-million-euro campus
is due to open its doors next September.

The two-story, state of the art school is situated
on a green field site between Rockwell and
Convent Hill.
This project is years in the making. Despite the
fact that the existing senior school was completed
in 1989 and an extension took place in 2002, it
became clear that the school was no longer suitable
to accommodate growing student numbers. The
campus buildings were simply not large enough
and the abundance of prefabs made the grounds MOVING CLOSER: On-site progress and artist’s
impression of main entrance. Pics: stmarysballina.ie
difficult to navigate.
After much lobbying from former school Past-pupil Annette stars
principal Mrs. Patsy Sweeney and the current in festive T.V. advert
principal Mr. Robert O’Reilly, the Department of By Ciara Finnerty
Education sanctioned the project. The work is now
advanced and it is likely to be complete next
summer, with hopes all students will be
commencing the 2022 school year in the new
campus. The school will see a range of superb
facilities such as Technical rooms, Home
Economics and Textiles rooms; Multi-Media

rooms as well as student common areas, a Fitness
Suite, Library, Meditation Room, General Purpose A St. Mary’s past pupil has the starring role in a
room and a range of all-weather sports facilities. brand new television advertising campaign for
Jersey Girls Convent finale sells out Littlewoods. Annette Flynn plays the mother in
Cont/d from front page the heart-warming advert which has been taken

THE tickets for the show sold out within three to the hearts of the nation.
days after the musical garnered attention from In an exclusive interview, the actress who has
local media. also starred in Fair City, told St. Mary’s Voice:
The Convent Hall will turn back the clock to the “You don’t always know when you’re filming
1960s to unveil the story of The Purelles, a girl something how it will look as the finished
group who want to follow their dreams of fame product. I had a feeling this was going to be
and fortune. pretty special but when I saw it on the TV, it
definitely exceeded my expectations.”
MAKING HEADLINES: Media
coverage of the sell-out show Asked what she thinks the popularity of the
advert can be attributed to, she added:
“People seem to love it because it captures
something innocent and pure – a very loving
relationship between a mother and daughter.”
The campaign for the online department store
has proved one of the most popular seasonal
advertisements of 2021.

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