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Second university site proposed for Killarney

By Sean Moriarty

A second proposal aimed at attracting a sub-campus of the newly formed Munster Technological University to Killarney has been put forward.
Last month it was announced that Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and Institute of Technology Tralee (ITT) would merge to create MTU.
It was revealed in last week’s Killarney Advertiser that Killarney Mayor Michael Gleeson was pushing for the old St Finan’s Hospital site to be considered as one of six campuses for the new university.
Since then a second proposal, this time involving the old Pretty Polly Factory site, has been out forward.

Former councillor Sean Counihan has suggested the site which is owned by Kerry County Council and has been lying unused for years.
It was previously owned by the former Killarney Town Council but when town councils were amalgamated in to the county councils ownership transferred to the main council.

According to Counihan the site, at the time it was in town council ownership, it was designated for use “by the people of Killarney” and that it was earmarked for education purposes and could have been used as a catering college.

He believes that the process of returning the Pretty Polly site to Killarney ownership would involve a lot less red-tape than the potential purchase of the St Finan’s site.

“I would argue that if the municipal system has any relevant authority in the Killarney area it would be in a position to offer,free gratis, this site for the benefit of the town and indeed for North Cork East /South Kerry and beyond,” he told the Killarney Advertiser.

“This would remove the interactions between any other proposed sites such as St Finan’s where progress would be much slower and complicated when dealing with bodies like the HSE.”