HSE U-Turn on sale of proposed Kildare elderly facility 

AFTER a fraught couple of weeks, and following a strong campaign against the proposed sale by the HSE of the Teach na nDaoine building in Kilcullen, refurbished by local people for an older persons day care centre, the property has been secured for community use.

A veritable orchestra chorus of 'well done', 'great news', 'great work', 'brilliant', 'fantastic', and 'sense has prevailed' commentary on social media last week reflected the widespread relief in Kilcullen that the planned sale had been abandoned and agreement reached for Kildare County Council to take it over.

Following a last-ditch intervention and late night negotiations 'at the highest level' of the HSE by local TD and Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer relayed the positive confirmation on Wednesday last that the health executive and Kildare County Council had reached an agreement in principle to transfer the building. "Both parties will now work closely together to bring this project to conclusion," she said.

The premises was refurbished and extended by a voluntary local community over a number of years, at a cost of more than €164,000, and then handed back to the HSE with the expectation that the vision for a day centre would be realised under its watch. However, in the middle of negotiations which had been ongoing between it and the council, the health executive announced a plan to sell it on the open market, saying it was surplus to their medical service requirements.

Despite several direct approaches and appeals on local news media for a change of heart, that remained the position until the minister got stuck in to try and untangle what had become a complicated administrative knot. His intervention succeeded, and there has since been a collective sigh of relief across the community that there is a future for the original vision of Teach na nDaoine.

Cllr O'Dwyer expressed her thanks to all involved in resolving the issue, including the Minister, KCC chief executive Sonya Kavanagh and council staff members, local people who spoke out and 'put a human face' on the need for the original older persons’ day care facility for which the original project was initiated, and local print and radio news media for support in raising the issue.

"This was a real community effort, from the committee who had the vision in 2015 to the people of Kilcullen who fundraised for it," she added, thanking everyone involved for their support during the recent campaign. "Days like today remind me why I do this wonderful, crazy job!"