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It has been agreed to accept the exceptional offer of Abbey Park from the Christian Brothers to Newry and Mourne District Council and thus to the people of Newry at a recent meeting of the Council's Economic Development Committee Meeting.
Welcoming the announcement Mayor John McArdle stated: “The Council recognises the unique contribution which the Christian Brothers have made to the Newry and Mourne District over many years and is pleased to accept the transfer of Abbey Park to the Council for the benefit of the citizens of Newry and Mourne”.
Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, Councillor Jack Patterson said: “This is a very exciting day for Newry and the Council is delighted to accept this very generous offer from the Christian Brothers who have played such a pivotal role in the lives of many generations of Newry people”.
The Christian Brothers Trust added: “The Christian Brothers Trust is delighted that Newry and Mourne Council has agreed to accept their donation of Abbey Park, which runs parallel to the old abbey school at Courtenay Hill, to the people of Newry. The trust plans to sell the unoccupied site at Courtenay Hill, Newry, where the Abbey Grammar School had been located since 1965 in the near future.
Having first arrived in Newry in 1851, the Christian Brothers with their lay colleagues built a lasting legacy of providing a strong educational ethos for generations of families within the City, and beyond. The legacy, now being developed and brought forward by the Edmund Rice Schools Trust Northern Ireland, continues in the newly built school and its facilities”.
