A childcare group will receive a huge cash injection to build four brand new crèches in Cork – welcome news for parents after a spate of childcare facility closures across the city.
Zenith Childcare will be getting two investments of €2.25 million and €3.25 million from investment firm Quintas Capital – allowing the childcare group to build four crèches in Cork with a total capacity of 500 by the end of 2025.
The Zenith Childcare group aims to launch its project with a a flagship, purpose-built facility in Bayly, Douglas – with plans for three more state-of-the-art crèches across Cork by the end of 2025. Areas being looked at include Carrigaline and Ballingcollig among other major city sites.
It’s very positive news for parents who have experienced a crisis in childcare over the last year, with facilities closed down across Cork. In August families on the northside were dealt a major blow when the New Horizons Preschool on St Mary’s Road closed down. The facility had the capacity to care for 44 children each term – making its closure a huge loss to the local community.
On that occasion Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould advocated for government-provided childcare in the wake of the closure, highlighting that Ireland is in the minority of European countries that do not have a childcare system partially or fully run by the state.
Another childcare centre in East Cork closed last summer after 20 years in business, and in August 2023 a crèche with a capacity of 85 announced that it would be closing its doors after 12 years of service on Airport Road.
As such the Zenith project to open 500 new places by the end of the year will be a welcome boost for Cork families. Elsewhere the Before 5 childcare site on the northside was saved from permanent closure last year after a spirited campaign by local families to keep it open.