Closure has been reached on two PPP school building contracts worth more than £80m.

Interserve, in consortium with partner O'Hare & McGovern, will design and construct

four buildings as part of the Down & Connor and De La Salle Schools projects.

The Down and Connor project is for St MacNissi's Educational Trust and covers three schools: St Joseph's Primary School, in Carryduff; St Mary's Primary School, in Portglenone; and Our Lady and St Patrick's College, in Knock.

The fourth school is St Patrick's Grammar School, in Downpatrick.

The contract is being undertaken on behalf of the Trustees of the De La Salle Congregation.

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O'Hare & McGovern has begun construction, which will be staggered over two years.

Once the schools are open Interserve will deliver facilities management services valued at an estimated £22m in Down and Connor and £12m in De La Salle over a period of 25 years.

These services will include security, waste management, porterage, site maintenance and energy management.

Interserve will invest approximately £2m and £1m in the two projects respectively, representing 50% of the equity and subordinated debt.

"We are looking forward to delivering services to the local communities who will benefit from these new schools," said Adrian Ringrose, Interserve's Chief Executive.

"These are Interserve's sixth and seventh educational PPPs in Northern Ireland and, together with the Enniskillen Hospital project in the south-west of the province on which we reached financial close recently, they underline both the continuing importance of the PPP model as a means of delivering social infrastructure and our commitment to providing modern, effective facilities for the people of Northern Ireland."

(PR/JM)