The oldest privately run secondary school in Limerick is to close its doors at the end of this academic year. Management at Bruce College in Limerick announced yesterday that the school would not reopen in September.
Difficulties in recruiting and maintaining skilled teaching staff have led to the closure.
Bruce College, which is located in a protected Georgian building at 65 O'Connell Street, opened to students in 1984.
The school catered for Leaving Cert, repeat Leaving Cert and Junior Cert students and offered revision courses and supervised study programmes.
The director of Bruce College, Liam O'Hora, said yesterday that difficulties in maintaining a settled staff prompted the closure.
It is understood that some of the 15 full-time teaching staff will secure jobs with another private school in Limerick and at Bruce College in Cork which remains unaffected.
Bruce's fifth-year students will complete their Leaving Cert education next year at another private school in the city.
Return to nursing open day
A return to nursing open day will take place in Waterford Regional Hospital's centre for nurse education, on May 30th.
The Health Service Executive South Eastern Area is to hold a major initiative in the region in the coming weeks aimed at encouraging registered nurses, who have not practised for some years, to return to the profession.
The open day will take place from 10 am-3pm.
Interested parties, who must be registered nurses out of practice for at least five years, can get application forms and more information from Breda Adamson on 051-848000 (ext 2839).
Apartments on Shannon sell fast
Hundreds of property- hunters were disappointed when eager buyers snapped up €15 million worth of houses and apartments on the banks of the river Shannon - in just 90 minutes.
Forty-three units of a new development in Athlone were sold off the plans, and buyers wrote the deposit cheques on the spot.
More than 300 people turned up at the launch of the Jolly Mariner Marina Village, but the majority were sent away as the level of interest exceeded expectations.
Ollie Moore of agents Sherry FitzGerald O'Meara said: "You often hear of this sort of thing going on in Dublin or Galway but here people were queuing for four hours before we started selling." Prices ranged from €210,000 to €560,000. Another phase is expected to come on stream in the coming months.
Famine ship should 'return to Kerry'
North Kerry TD Martin Ferris (SF) says the Jeanie Johnston could be bought outright by the State and kept in Kerry which would demonstrate a real commit- ment to decentralisation.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority is negotiating to buy the replica famine ship for €2.7 million. Mr Ferris called on Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue to take a "brave initiative" that would not only keep the ship, which was built in Kerry, in the county, but it could provide a focal point of a national Famine and immigration interpretive centre.
"It would be an absolute shame if the people of Kerry were to lose something that they put so much into, in both monetary and emotional terms. At €2.7 million, this would be a give-away for the State."
Mr Ferris added that this was a "perfect opportunity" for the Government to show its commitment to decentralisation. "If Kerry wants to continue as the capital of tourism then the Minister must ensure that one of our prime tourist assets is not shipped off to Dublin."