Northern Ireland Education Minister, Paul Givan, has welcomed today’s decision by the Executive for the Strule Shared Education Campus to proceed to contract award and construction.

The Strule campus, which will open in September 2028, is a pioneering project that will provide a state-of-the-art shared centre of learning.

And it represents £375m of investment which will deliver world-class educational facilities and wide-ranging educational, societal, and economic benefits for the Omagh community and the west of Northern Ireland more broadly.

Givan said: “The Strule Campus will be the largest education construction project ever delivered.

“It is a new and pioneering approach which will inform the future development of education in Northern Ireland over the coming decades.

“Shared education has a key role in developing a peaceful and shared society and the Strule Campus is a vital component in the Executive’s vision of delivering a more-peaceful and prosperous society for all.”

Strule will bring together six schools from across the community and incorporate grammar, non-selective, and special school provision on the former Lisanelly Army Barracks.

Over 4,000 children and young people from all backgrounds, will come together to learn on the campus and the schools will work together to provide a shared curriculum and a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

Givan said: “I am delighted we have reached this key milestone in the delivery of this iconic and unique shared education campus.

“The Strule Campus will be an education campus of world and international renown and a flagship for the shared post-conflict society we are aiming to develop.”

The Strule Shared Education Campus Programme will provide six core schools (five post-primary and one special school) and associated shared education facilities on a 125-acre site in Omagh.

The schools involved are Arvalee School and Resource Centre, Christian Brothers Grammar School, Loreto Grammar School, Omagh Academy Grammar School, Omagh High School, and Sacred Heart College.

The Strule Main Works Contract is scheduled for award in coming weeks and includes five school buildings, a shared sports centre, shared education centre, a sports pavilion and associated synthetic pitches, infrastructure, and site development works.