Support sought for UN Veterans’ initiative in Mullingar Barracks

The lack of support from the Department of Defence for an initiative in Mullingar Barracks by the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) was raised in the Seanad by Tipperary Labour Senator Denis Landy.

The IUNVA, he said, was given the opportunity to use part of a building in the barracks, the officers' mess, for meeting and holding social events. “The IUNVA has sought a long-term lease on the section in order to secure tenure and ensure it could develop and upgrade it as it saw fit.”

Although the issue has been dragging on for well over a year, the IUNVA has received no positive response, only excuses why the property section of the Department will not make a decision about it, he said. “It was told the local GAA club was going to take over the whole barracks area, including the lands, and sub let the IUNVA section to it,” he said. “This seems to have fallen through. Then, the IUNVA was told it had to wait, given that there was a possibility the barracks would be used for refugees. Based on research I have done, this is clearly not the case. Since then, the IUNVA has received no answer.”

In recent weeks and months, he said Mullingar Boxing Club has taken up residence in the dining room area. It is a great initiative to use the building, as the Government said it would, to provide services in the community. “However, surely the IUNVA, whose members have served the country at home and overseas as members of one of the proudest armies in the world, should be treated with respect and receive security of tenure,” he said. “The foot-dragging that is happening in the Department property section should stop. There is some kind of log jam which should be explained to the local people involved under the chairman, Eddie Robinson, and to the national organisation.”

In response, Minister of State Tom Hayes said that following the closure of the barracks in March 2012, officials in the Department of Defence wrote to Departments and other public bodies inviting them to express any interest in the property, with a view to its disposal by the Department. No such interest was expressed at that time.

“The Irish United Nations Veterans Association has occupied the former officers' mess unit in the barracks since late 2014 and has requested a long-term lease on the premises,” he said. “Officials from the Department have met the association's representatives on site to discuss its plans for the barracks and have raised questions regarding those plans. The premises were initially provided to the IUNVA on the basis that it would be used as a meeting place for members of the association. Since then it has come to our attention that the IUNVA's long-term vision for the premises includes the provision of a coffee shop, overnight accommodation for its members and a bar.”

While the Department supports the ongoing use of the barracks by the local community the current financial and administrative burden resulting from the retention of the barracks cannot be sustained given that the barracks is no longer required for military purposes, he said. “Accordingly, officials of the Department will be happy to discuss with any interested group, including the local authority, any proposals they may have for the possible purchase and future development of the site for the benefit of the local community,” he said. “This is in keeping with the Department's policy to dispose of surplus property no longer required for military purposes.”