A Galway secondary school – and hurling nursery – is thriving on the field…but off the pitch, the school’s players are stuck with facilities that are strictly second class.

Because while the young star of St Raphael’s College in Loughrea may have run St Ciaran’s of Kilkenny very close in the All-Ireland Senior Schools Championship this year – only losing out to the eventual champions after extra time – they are desperately short of changing rooms.

Despite many years of lobbying the Department of Education, the government has refused to fund dressing rooms facilities for the 800-pupil East Galway school.

It means that all St Raphael’s College teams must use the dressing room of the nearby school gym, which inevitably means the hallways get clogged with sporting gear and equipment.

It’s even worse for visiting teams – including elite Senior A teams from across the country – who must use a container ship which has no bathroom, shower, running water, toilet or storage facilities.

Frustrated with the lack of progress, school principal Paul Cafferky has now appealed to local parents and businesspeople and families – and local GAA supporters in particular – to help fund the desperately needed facilities.

Significant progress has been made, but the campaign is still short of the required funds.

“We are progressing in the planning process,” said Mr Cafferky.

“With the help of parents of our students who have professional experience in various areas, we have submitted a planning application which we expect to be approved in the very near future.

“Our Budget is €200,000, and we have achieved much of the funding, but are still short. €30,000 has been raised by the Parents Association, and the school can afford to put €40,000 towards the development,” he added.

Three local businesspeople and families have committed €25,000 donations each to assist the building, but that still leaves the school short of an additional two or three donations of €25,000 each to hit their target.

“The €200,000 budget is the bare minimum, and a small amount of extra funding will help us finish the development to the standard of the rest of the school premises,” said the Principal.

Mr Cafferky said that St Raphael’s has a large and global base of past pupils from its 117-year history, and he hoped that families in a position to support the development may wish to do so in memory of a grandparent or a parent that attended the school – or who may be in the position to sponsor as a local business.

“Any and all donations will be permanently recognised in the new building. We are keen to complete the building this year, and a local contractor has agreed to supervise the construction to make sure that the investment is used as efficiently as possible,” he said.

“When visiting teams come to Loughrea, from inside the county, or outside, you want to greet them in a way of which we can be proud.  Having a container shed as a training facility is simply not acceptable. We need to and can do better,” he added.

If anyone is interested in potentially assisting the funding of the St Raphael’s College Dressing Rooms – either alumni, or local residents of Loughrea or East Galway – you can text 086-817-5691.

Pictured: The proposed location of new St Raphael’s College Dressing Rooms.