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OPINION: Council reluctant to buy State-owned property for housing

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By Sean Moriarty

We hear every day that there is a housing shortage in Killarney. Things are so bad now that hotels are either building or buying apartment blocks to accommodate staff.

Elected councillors are blue in the face from asking Kerry County Council to build more social housing in the town and the Council are constantly explaining that affordable land is not available in the area.

But the local authority seems reluctant to act on State-owned property, often because the State wants to charge market value for its properties.

What many locals and councillors cannot understand is that if State property is our property, why can’t the lands be handed over to different State bodies that need them – even for a nominal fee.

It was up for debate again this week at a Killarney Municipal District meeting. There were more calls by councillors to build social housing on the old St Finan’s site.

But the Council said it was not willing to take a €100 million risk.

While it sounds feasible to acquire the grassed area of the old hospital site and build houses there, the building which is a protected structure needs massive investment to turn it into anything; from flats or even into a hotel, and no one is willing to risk the reported €100 million outlay to do that. The HSE is only wiling to sell the entire site and even if the Council did manage to buy the grassed area, the derelict hospital would become even more unmanageable in the middle of a housing estate.

Ok, so the town is out of luck in that regard, for the foreseeable anyway.

What about lands at the rear of the Pretty Polly site, once earmarked for housing?

That is another big no from the Council. The Kerry Educational Training Board (KETB) announced before Christmas that it is to build a new Killarney campus on the 'Polly' site.

Once the college is complete there are still lands available towards the rear of the old hosiery factory.

A housing executive from Kerry County Council explained to Wednesday’s meeting that the ‘Polly’ site was no longer being considered for housing “given the other [ETB] announcement”.

The Council said at the meeting it would look in to the process of acquiring the District Hospital and St Columbanus properties once the new community hospital is built.

Our prediction: The latter two named properties will join the growing list of State-owned dereliction in the town. It is one prediction we would like to be proved wrong on!

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BREAKING: Kerry ETB Awarded €2.3m to purchase Pretty Polly Site

The Kerry Education and Training Board (Kerry ETB) has been awarded €2.3 million in funding to purchase the former Pretty Polly site on Upper Park Road, Killarney. The funding, announced […]

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The Kerry Education and Training Board (Kerry ETB) has been awarded €2.3 million in funding to purchase the former Pretty Polly site on Upper Park Road, Killarney.

The funding, announced this morning by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, will allow Kerry ETB to develop the site as a new Tourism Sector Training College. The proposed facility will focus on training for the hospitality and tourism industries.
Kerry TD Michael Cahill described the announcement as “a major vote of confidence in Killarney and the wider Kerry tourism industry.”
“This is immense news for the town,” said Deputy Cahill. “It will mark Killarney out officially as the tourism capital of Ireland by providing a Hospitality Sector Training College right in the heart of the county.”
Deputy Cahill said he had been advocating for such a development since entering the Dáil, adding that the investment “will be a gamechanger for the hospitality sector in Killarney and Kerry.”
He also recalled the former CERT training centre that operated at the Torc Great Southern Hotel in the 1970s, noting that this new project would revive that legacy for a new generation of tourism professionals.
The Pretty Polly site, vacant for many years, will now be transformed into a key educational and economic hub for the region once the project proceeds.

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Coffee morning being held in memory of late Kevin O’Shea

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A coffee morning will take place in the Aghadoe Heights Hotel next week in memory of the late Kevin O’Shea.


It will take place on October 18 from 11am to 1pm.


All proceeds will go to Kerry Hospice Foundation, Kerry Cancer Support Group and Recovery Haven.


For those who are unable to make it on the day, you can make a donation online by scanning the QR code on the picture.


Kevin’s family extended their heartfelt thanks to local businesses and hotels that have generously sponsored spot prizes, all to be won on the day.


They also said that any donation, big or small, is appreciated and all support is most welcome.

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