Councillors in Killarney have been told they’ll be starting from scratch, if they try and re-design the Áras Phádraig redevelopment.
The council bought the now-derelict site on Lewis Road from the Franciscan Frias for €225,000 in late 2019.
Plans were first unveiled to redevelop the site in 2021, but councillors in the Killarney Municipal District rejected the latest plans for the site in July last year.
At the recent Killarney Municipal District meeting, Labour councillor Marie Moloney called for an arts centre and library to be provided in the development.
She said this development is a valuable opportunity to provide a municipal arts centre.
Currently the site is set to include a new theatre, exhibition space, meeting rooms, and an outdoor public plaza.
Killarney councillors originally approved the inclusion of a HSE-run primary care centre in February last year, but they reversed this decision five months later after significant backlash in public consultation.
The project had been granted funding under the government’s URDF scheme – Urban Regeneration Development Fund – but the funding was secured with the inclusion of the primary care centre.
At the latest Killarney MD meeting, MD manager Martin O’Donoghue said the council is engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, to see how willing they are to proceed with funding the project without the HSE involvement.
As part of this, the council must make a new business case for the project, but that must be in accordance with the funding application that was previously approved.
He said the Department will not consider an expansion of the development to include a library and arts centre at this stage.
He said a full re-design at this stage is not a runner, and after further questioning from councillors, he said increasing the theatre would be starting from scratch with funding.
He said at this stage, the Department has not given approval to proceed on the project without the HSE, and that work is ongoing.
