Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2015
354. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Defence if his Department requested Kildare County Council to delist any structures at the Magee Barracks site in Kildare town; if, in the event of the sale of this property, he will make arrangements for the retention and preservation of the historic gates and their allied boundary railings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36535/15]
View answerIn December 2011 the Department of Defence formally requested that the Council delist the protected structures on the site of the former Magee army barracks in Kildare. The request followed on from the Department’s submission in September 2011, to the proposed local area plans for Maynooth, Newbridge and Kildare Town. It was made on the basis that consideration was being given to the demolition of buildings on the site that had been the focus of unsocial behaviour and had been severely vandalised to the extent that only concrete shells remain. While the reference to the buildings and structures being listed was included in the Magee Barracks Local Area Plan 2005 no reference to them was mentioned in either of the Kildare County Development Plans 2005 or 2011.
The question of the future of the main gates of the former barracks is currently being considered by my officials.
