Letterkenny school to receive $10,000 from the Irish American Partnership

A LETTERKENNY school is to receive $10,000 from the Irish American Partnership.

The school community of Scoil Cholmcille were delighted to learn that they are to receive the money from the Boston based non-profit organisation.

The organisation is dedicated to connecting Irish America and friends of Ireland to their Irish heritage through direct philanthropic giving through their investment in schools, peace and reconciliation initiatives across Ireland to nurture the next generation of global leaders.

The school received the word on Monday night that they were to benefit from this generous pledge after they submitted an application to the fund with the hope of building an outdoor classroom on their site at Convent Road.

Scoil Cholmcille then welcomed the CEO Mary Sugrue and VP of Communications Clodagh Boyle (whose father originates from Dungloe) to discuss their plans for the grant and to view the location and the school facilities.

While the average bursary awarded by their Outdoor Play and Learning Programme is normally between $1,000 and $5,000, CEO Mary Sugrue was delighted to grant twice the maximum amount to Scoil Cholmcille given the size of the school and the ambitious nature of the project.

Their plans to create an outdoor classroom and sensory garden will be organically created to take full advantage of the unique views surrounding the school grounds and the flora and fauna surrounding the site.

The Irish American Partnership was founded in Ireland to organize Irish American support on behalf of job creation, education, and economic development in Ireland.

Encouraged by an Irish Parliament grant of £50,000 Irish pounds in 1986, a group of Irish educators, government officials, business executives, and politicians from both the North and South came together to form an Irish organization whose purpose it was to create a supportive partnership between Irish Americans and Ireland.

Donegal visionary, Paddy Harte TD, was instrumental in the creation of the Partnership and achieving seed funding from the Irish Government.

In its early days, the Partnership was seed-funded by the late Irish American businessman and philanthropist Charles “Chuck” Feeney.

Chuck’s particular interest in Ireland was spent developing education, civil society and peace initiatives on the island. The Irish American Partnership benefited greatly from his altruism, when in 1986 a newspaper article caught his eye, about the formation in Dublin of a body called the Irish American Partnership, inspired by Paddy Harte, TD.

Harte sought to harness the tremendous goodwill toward Ireland among successful Irish Americans to stimulate business and philanthropy.

It is fitting that a local school should now benefit from such philanthropy and goodwill after many years of hard work and dedication took place in Paddy Harte’s own Fine Gael office on the Market Square in Letterkenny throughout the 1980s and 90s.

Scoil Cholmcille look forward to the design and construction of this exciting new venture which will greatly enhance the learning and holistic development of almost 650 students.

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