Waterford Teachers’ Centre came into existence in 1974 when a general meeting of all teachers in the region was held in De La Salle College. This meeting was attended by in excess of 200 teachers. At that meeting an ad-hoc committee was elected to see the Centre through its initial organising period. Seán Ó Mulláin, who at the time was Principal in Killea N.S, was elected as Chairman of that committee and Henry Collins, a teacher in Newtown Secondary School, was elected as Secretary and Part-time Director of the Centre.

Shortly after that the committee rented a premises at 31, The Mall. This was a large Georgian House leased from the Holy Ghost Trust and was the home of Waterford Teachers’ Centre until the early 1980s when the Centre moved to the Order of Malta Hall at 123A the Quay. In the early 1990s the Centre became a full-time Centre and the first full-time Director, Gráinne Ó Neachtain was employed.

One year later the Centre moved to its present home, which is part of De La Salle College. The building housed the Junior Classes from the College from the mid 1950s until 1990 when the classes were transferred across the road to the main building where they were rehoused in Classrooms converted from Dormitories vacated when the Boarding School Section of the College closed in the late 1980s. This premises proved very suitable for the Centre who are very appreciative of the co-operation and assistance received from the De La Salle Brothers over the years. In 1991 Niamh Crowley succeeded Gráinne as Director. Niamh served as Director until 1998 when she was succeeded by the current director, Harry Knox. Breda Halley, the first full-time Secretary of the Centre was employed in 1992 and is still with us.

Recently the building was purchased by the Department of Education and Science from the Brothers and is currently being renovated. All going well, the renovations should be completed by June 2000. The Centre has been vacated during the construction period and now resides in temporary accomodation at Upstairs, 126 The Quay.