Building work is starting on a new €30 million building project at Dublin's St Patrick's College after the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan approved the contract for the project last week.

The new 12,000sq/m facility, which includes new lecture theatres, libraries and offices, in addition to the refurbishment of 6,000sq/m of existing space, is expected to be finished in 2012.

Announcing the move, the Tánaiste said: "This project will transform the campus in St Patrick's College of Education and bring its facilities to a new level of state-of-the-art modernity.

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"St Patrick's College has experienced strong demand for its programmes, which has resulted in student numbers more than doubling over the past decade," she said noting that enrolments in the Drumcondra college have risen from 1,024 in the 1999/2000 academic year to 2,500 in 2009/2010.

"This contract will bring Government capital investment in St Patrick's College to over €40 million in the past decade," said the Tánaiste.

The project was designed by award-winning architects RMJM (Scotland) in partnership with Taylor Architects of Castlebar, Co Mayo.

In addition to that major contract, funding has also been approved by the Tánaiste for health and safety works at St Angela's College, Sligo, and the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines, Dublin.

(BMcC/GK)