Madam, - Michael MacDonnacha (January 29th) appears to be wholly mistaken about the position of the Kildare Town Development Association. We are not opposed to social housing, as he suggests. At issue is the fact that the Government is acting in conflict with its own stated reason for closing Magee Barracks and its subsequent commitments to the community of Kildare.
In 1998, the Army was moved out of Magee Barracks and the public was told the property would be put up for sale. I was spokesman for a delegation that met the Minister for Defence in 1998. We told him the closure of the barracks was similar to the closure of a factory in its economic impact on a small town. The Minister said the Government intended that the Barracks would be sold for development to maximise the funds available for investment in the Defence Forces. He said the development of the lands would benefit the town in general.
It is and was the reasonable hope of the community of Kildare that such development would have included the county museum designated for Kildare town, a town centre, a hotel and leisure complex, sports and recreational facilities, industrial units and housing to cater for the town's social, sporting, economic and residential needs.
The Kildare Town development plan prepared by the county council envisages that "the barracks lands will be intensively developed with a mix of uses so as to ensure a new vibrant quarter to the town emerges. The Council intends that this area will be knitted into the existing urban fabric so that it becomes an integral part of the extended town centre".
Since 1998 Magee Barracks has been used by different Government Departments and the local authority as a stop-gap solution to various crises. All such steps prevented the Minister for Defence from selling Magee Barracks with vacant possession prior to the Government decision to hand the entire 65 acres over for housing. Had the Minister sold the land with vacant possession, it is quite possible that Kildare might now have the new vibrant quarter as envisaged by the community of Kildare and Kildare County Council, with full mixed use, including social housing.
It now appears that a considerable amount of taxpayers' money will be spent on purchasing or leasing office space in a nearby town for the decentralised Department of Defence.
Paradoxically, the Government still owns Magee Barracks, where there are a number of suitable office blocks, including a listed building with ample space for the construction of further office accommodation as required. There would still be land available for housing and other mixed development. The saving to the taxpayer could be directed to social housing. I trust Mr MacDonnacha will agree.
Kildare Town Development Association calls on the Government to look to the proper development of Kildare town, to honour commitments made, to comply with the stated development objectives of Kildare County Council, to maximise the potential of Magee Barracks and to save taxpayers unnecessary expense. - Yours, etc.,
RORY de BRUIR, PRO, Kildare Town Development Association, Ardynhoth House, Kildare.