Nicola honoured to take over as Principal at De La Salle Dundalk

The new school year saw the District of Ireland, Great Britain and Malta welcome a new principal to De La Salle College, Dundalk, where Nicola Connolly took on the role.

Nicola Connolly

After joining the staff in 1999 as a teacher of history and religion, Nicola became Deputy Principal in 2017 and having been an enthusiastic advocate of the Lasallian values during that time, she is ideally placed to take on the role of Principal.

Her experience working with her predecessor, Patricia O’Leary, has been invaluable to Nicola who revealed that she is not only honoured to have been given the responsibility but is very much excited by the challenge.

“It really is a privilege to have been appointed Principal at a school where I have taught all my career and while it is certainly a big challenge, it is something I am enjoying so far”, explained Nicola.

Having worked as deputy for four years, Nicola always had a strong connection with the students and that is something she wanted to continue in the new role. As a result, one of her first initiatives is that she makes time from her busy schedule to meet all students as they come through the gate in the morning.

“From day one, myself and Deputy Principal, Daragh McKeon, have gone to the gate every morning and while it may seem like a simple idea, it has been invaluable for us and the students. It allows us to check to see how they are and gives us the opportunity to resolve any issues at an early stage”, she added.

At the moment the new Principal reveals that she is taking it day by day but there are some exciting plans in store, including the opening of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Unit, and with planning permission now granted it is hoped it will be open in the spring of 2023.

“Overall I am lucky that have the support of an excellent staff while Daragh McKeon has been amazing as the new Deputy Principal and we have a great relationship. The students have also been fantastic and showed great resilience during the challenges of the last 18 months, so that has been a great help.

“I am also very fortunate to be following in the footsteps of Patricia O’Leary who has been an amazing support to me. She has been a fantastic role model to me over the past four years as deputy, she is extremely kind and patient. She is also a Lasallian through and through who lives and breathes the Lasallian values so Patricia is very much missed around here,” added Nicola.

Nicola Connolly with former Principal, Patricia O’Leary