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Commencement of work on the new Islandmagee Primary School has been welcomed after “so many false dawns”.

East Antrim Ulster Unionist MLA John Stewart was commenting after the cutting of the first sod on the £5.4 million project on Monday.

Mr Stewart said: “This day has been a long time coming and there have been many twists and turns on the way, but it is with great relief that we see the first sod cut on the new Islandmagee Primary School.

“The staff and board of governors at Islandmagee, especially principal Arlene Cambridge and chair William Kane, deserve the utmost praise for not giving up and pushing so hard to get the work started.”

Education Permanent Secretary Dr Mark Browne; Arlene Cambridge, principal; William Kane, chair of board of governors; Barry Mulholland, chairman of the Education Authority and officials, representatives from McAdam Design and Martin & Hamilton Ltd and pupils cutting the first sod to officially mark the beginning of construction work at Islandmagee Primary School.

Recalling the challenges faced along the way, Mr Stewart traced a timeline that included the then North East Education and Library Board publishing a development proposal to rationalise primary school provision in the area in March 2002, school amalgamations, the purchase of a site in 2007 and the granting of planning permission in 2021 for a new amalgamated primary school at Low Road.

Mr Stewart added: “To say it has been a long time coming is an understatement because there are people who were of pre-school age when the amalgamation of the three former small rural schools on Islandmagee was first announced, who have now graduated and are in the world of work.

“However, after so many false dawns, so many meetings and so many letters, this is tremendous news for the entire community in Islandmagee.”

New school sod-cutting ceremony welcomed after ‘so many false dawns’