Hundreds of parents, past pupils and people from the community, gathered in Scoil Mhuire, Ballyhooly to mark a momentous occasion on Thursday last, as the school extension was officially opened.

Principal, Deirdre O'Brien, spoke about how glad she was to welcome the whole school community to celebrate this together, saying that the school had come an awful long way since the days of the hedge schools.

The school had its first portacabin in 2005 and another one in 2007, but thanks to the work of the Board of Management, both currently and in the past, Minister Sean Sherlock and the Department of Education, the school said goodbye to the portacabins and celebrated the opening of the permanent extension.

"I would like to acknowledge the patience and perseverance of the staff, parents and pupils, as portacabin life was not always easy, but as we can now see, it was worthwhile," Ms O'Brien said.

Quite appropriately, one of the hymns sang by the students on the day was 'This is the Day' and it was clear that they were all delighted with the work done to make their school more impressive.

She thanked everyone who contributed in any way to make the extension and their day of celebration a success and the school also raised their Green Flag for water conservation. 

Fr Pat Scanlan carried out the official blessing, and local councillors were also in attendance on the day. Cllr Frank O'Flynn said that the occasion marked a great day for Ballyhooly and for education in the village.

"I wish them all the best for the future," he said, adding that the extension will add so much to the school.

The ribbon was cut by the eldest surviving past pupil, Nora Beecher, along with the youngest pupil in the school, Cliodhna Fay, who were both given lovely presentations by the eldest boy and girl in the school. 

Meanwhile, Mrs Beecher also had her own gift for the school with a bit of advice for the current pupils and the gift of an old class photograph for the principal, Deirdre O'Brien.

Speaking about her days in the school, Mrs Beecher spoke about it being a great honour that she was asked to cut the ribbon, with her young assistant Cliodhna.

"I hope you all have happy memories of your school days, like I had of mine, nearly 80 years ago," she said.

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