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Dublin’s social housing plans set precedent for St Finan’s site

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By Sean Moriarty

The Health Service Executive’s decision to handover a group of derelict houses to Fingal County Council for social housing sets a precedent that could be applied to St Finan’s Hospital.

That is according to Cllr Marie Moloney who, along with all her elected colleagues, have been pushing to find a solution for the site that has been vacant since 2012.

There is a dire need for housing in the Killarney area but despite several ideas put forward to do something with St Finan’s, so far, nothing has come to fruition.

This week 14 one hundred-year-old derelict cottages were handed over to Fingal County Council.

The north County Dublin houses were previously used to house staff at the nearby St Ita’s psychiatric hospital.

They have been vacant for over 20 years and have fallen in to a state of disrepair but Fingal County Council plans to turn them into social housing under a €4 million restoration plan.

The HSE maintains that the St Finan’s site is for sale at the full market value but so far no realistic bidder has emerged.

“If the HSE can do it there they can do it here in Killarney,” Cllr Moloney told the Killarney Advertiser.

“It is not beyond the bounds of possibility.”

While welcoming the construction of the new community hospital on the grounds of St Finan’s she has raised concerns that the HSE have yet to reveal plans for the existing District Hospital on St Margaret’s Road.

Killarney has had more than its fair share of abandoned buildings in recent years, but plans are now in place to redevelop the Áras Pádraig and Kerry ETB has ambitions to build a college campus on the site of the old Pretty Polly factory.

“The last thing Killarney needs is another idle building. I don’t know what the big secret is but the HSE won’t tell us what their plans are for the District Hospital. It is all cloak and dagger.”

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10-minute plays will linger in the memory

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The West End House School of Arts is delighted to take part in this year’s St Patrick’s Day Festival with a special evening of entertaining readings on Friday, March 13 at 7.30pm.

It promises to be a vibrant showcase of five original 10-minute plays written by emerging local playwrights, each of whom has recently completed a playwriting course with Fiona Doyle (pictured).


Diverse in style and subject matter, these beautifully crafted pieces promise an evening of laughter, tears, and powerful storytelling and each reading will be performed by West End House actors from Kerry.


Together, they highlight the remarkable talent of these up-and-coming writers and actors, who are the future of theatre in our community.

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Get your scrap together

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Following the success of the first ever Killarney Lions Club scrap metal collection in 2025, the Club will again run the event this year in partnership with KWD Recycling on March 28, at Killarney Racecourse.

Similar to 2025, money raised through recycling the metal will go towards improving facilities for families attending the children’s cancer unit in Cork University Hospital, as part of an overall fundraising drive being coordinated by Lions Clubs all over Munster.

The Club is asking people to bring non-ferrous scrap metals such as aluminium, copper, brass, zinc and stainless steel (no white goods such as fridges/cookers washing machines). Volunteers will be on hand from 9am until 4pm to take donations of scrap and work with KWD Recycling to remove it for processing.

“Although Lions Clubs in Munster have already raised some funds for CUH, more is still needed, so we’re delighted that KWD Recycling is working with us again to support this very worthwhile cause”, said Jason Higgins, President of Killarney Lions Club. “We’re asking anyone who has scrap metal at home, at work or on the farm now or in the next few weeks to please bring it to the Racecourse on the day because everything we collect will make a difference.”

Tadhg Healy, Sales Manager at KWD Recycling added that “We will recycle any high quality scrap metal that we collect – it can be quite valuable and of course it’s better for the environment if it’s recycled instead of being dumped. On top of that, the main thing with this collection is to help families of children with cancer, so hopefully we’ll get a good response from everyone and raise as much money as possible through this event”.

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