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By Sean Moriarty

Killarney’s much-awaited new community hospital has taken another step towards reality this week after Kerry County Council approved planning permission for the project.

Last October, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare lodged a planning application for a new 130-bed Community Nursing Unit.

The permit was granted this week, but it is unknown when construction might begin on account of the current restrictions put in place to fight COVID-19. In normal circumstances the development should be finished by the end of 2022, but with start dates now likely to be pushed out that date remains fluid.

This development, which will be built on the grounds of St Finan’s Hospital, will replace the current St Columbanus Home and the District Hospital's Short Stay Unit.

The development will include 130 en-suite bedrooms, including 30 rooms specifically for dementia patients.

A new entrance will be constructed at the Lewis Road-side of the site, which will also include overnight visitor accommodation, as well as a laundry and hair salon.

Existing farm buildings on St Finan’s site will be demolished to accommodate the new structure, but the hospital itself, which is a protected Victorian-era building, will not be subject to any works during this development.

Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae made several submissions to Dáil Eireann to get the project off the ground.

“I welcome this decision by KCC as it is the first step of a very important process in providing a new community hospital for the town of Killarney,” Deputy Healy-Rae told the Killarney Advertiser.

“I have been highlighting the need for this for a very long time, in fact, I was the first to ask for it at a HSE South Forum, also in KCC and the Dáil at every given opportunity.”

Mayor of Killarney, Cllr Michael Gleeson, a long-time campaigner for action on the redevelopment of the St Finan’s site, welcomed the planning decision but asked what will become of the old community hospital as there are concerns it could become derelict.

He is one of the Kerry representatives on the HSE South Forum and wants the HSE to confirm its intentions regarding the site. In November it was revealed that the site could be sold to private investors.

“I am very pleased that the application has been successful as per the planning application. I hope that the HSE will be in a position to proceed with the development in the relatively near future,” he told the Killarney Advertiser.

“At a HSE South meeting (on February 20) I asked if the HSE had any definite plans for the existing community hospital and St Columbanus Home. The reply stated that as of yet no plans had been formulated but that there would be consultation with other State agencies regarding their future."