Construction work has started on a new primary school in Newry, Northern Ireland.

Education Minister, John O'Dowd cut the first sod at the site of St Clare's Abbey Primary School.

£5.2 million is to be invested in the project, which will provide a new 15 classroom school with modern facilities for pupils and staff as well as giving a boost to the local construction industry.

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Minister O'Dowd said: "St Clare's Primary School was part of the educational fabric in the Newry area for over 140 years and St Colman’s Abbey Primary for more than 75 years before the two schools amalgamated at the start of the current academic year. Currently operating on two single gender sites, this marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the newly formed school as it looks to the future and the vision of coming together in one state-of-the-art, bespoke facility."

(CD/MH)