The Chief Executive of Kerry County Council is to consider removing the protected structure status from the St Finan’s Hospital building in Killarney.
At yesterday’s council meeting, CEO Moira Murrell said she will look at the building’s status, following a call from Independent councillor Brendan Cronin to consider de-listing it.
Cllr Cronin said the protected structure status is a major impediment to any development of the HSE-owned lands at St Finan’s.
He said the council is strangled for land for housing in Killarney, while this building is lying there empty and deteriorating.
The hospital has remained idle since it closed in 2012, but the site has been offered to all state agencies since.
County Council previously indicated that the development of the site would cost over €100 million, which is beyond the scope of the local authority.
A community nursing unit is currently under construction on part of the St Finan’s site, and is due to be completed by the end of 2024.
At yesterday’s meeting, Cllr Cronin said the building’s protected status is preventing regeneration of this strategically vital site which nobody seems to want.
He called for the council to consider de-listing the building, which he said will deteriorate as things stand.
Sinn Féin councillor Cathal Foley strongly opposed any call to de-list it, adding it’s owed to future generations to preserve our heritage for future generations.
Independent councillor Maura Healy-Rae said the protected status is doing nothing to actually preserve the building while the HSE fails to maintain it.
Fellow Independent Donal Grady said the building is half-rotten, and the top floor had been taken over by pigeons when he visited it 30 years ago.
Council CEO Moira Murrell said she will consider the building’s protected structure status, but it would take exceptional circumstances to de-list it.
It’s the council’s view the protected elements of the building are not overly restrictive and they do not impinge on its renovation.
Moira Murrell said she can only take into account architectural and heritage values when considering whether to de-list it, and not economic factors.
A current market valuation on the site is also currently being prepared by the national Valuation Office.
