McLaughlin & Harvey has been appointed by the Education Authority as main contractor for phase one of a specialist SEN expansion at Rathore School in Newry, its first Northern Ireland project since completing the Bushmills distillery in 2021 and a signal of renewed public sector building activity for local contractors.

McLaughlin & Harvey, headquartered in Mallusk, County Antrim, is a privately owned construction and civil engineering business founded in 1853, employing more than 850 people across offices in Belfast, Glasgow, London, Birmingham and Bristol.

The Education Authority, Northern Ireland's education body, is commissioning the works as part of its wider capital programme to expand specialist SEN provision across the region.

The scheme will deliver nine new classroom facilities at Rathore School, along with additional outdoor play areas, car parking and landscaping, using modern methods of construction including off-site fabrication of 1,300 sq m of classroom and ancillary accommodation to limit disruption to the operational school.

Contract value was undisclosed, with completion due by the end of December 2026 and pupils able to move into the new facilities from August 2027 following further fit-out by the school.

This is a capacity-driven contract rather than a discretionary capital project, reflecting a structural shortage in SEN school places rather than a one-off decision to expand a single site.

Demand for SEN places in Northern Ireland has risen by more than 50 percent in five years, and the Education Authority has warned that its current approach is "running out of road," despite confirming more than 4,400 SEN places for September 2026 and running construction projects at 115 schools to create additional capacity.

For the sector, that structural driver points to sustained, multi-year public sector education construction demand tied to rising SEN diagnosis rates rather than the broader economic cycle, a pipeline likely to prove more resilient than general commercial or housing work through any downturn.

The reliance on off-site fabrication to expand a live, operational special school also signals where public sector education clients are heading: modern methods of construction are becoming the default delivery route for occupied-site expansions, not just a cost-saving option, as capacity pressure leaves little room for extended on-site disruption.

Source: Premier Construction News / Irish News