Lucinda Creighton, today (Thursday) welcomed the announcement by An Bord Pleanála that an oral hearing would be held to consider the application for the redevelopment of RTE’s Donnybrook campus at Montrose. She also repeated her call for RTE to work with St. Mary’s Primary School to provide space for expansion.

Lucinda stated: “This announcement is to be welcomed as it will allow the concerns of the local community to be heard. This is a major redevelopment which would have both local and national repercussions.

“I fully support RTE’s continued presence in Donnybrook as it adds significantly to the economic and cultural life of the area, and to our capital. RTE needs to change with the times, and it should be allowed to do so on its current site rather than being forced to move to a brownfield site outside the area. But any development must be with due consideration for its residential neighbours.

“At the same time as RTE is making this application for planning permission, St. Mary’s Primary School in Donnybrook does not have the capacity to deal with the demand for school places from local families. They do not have sufficient land to develop to meet the demand for places. I am therefore asking RTE to allocate a portion of its campus to the school as its contribution to community gain as part of this application.”