BUSINESSES COUNT COSTS AS WORK ON JOHN ST CONTINUES
COUNCIL GIVEN REPEATED WARNINGS OLD CRUMBLING BUILDING WAS DANGEROUS
WORK on an 180-year-old shop premises which partially collapsed on John Street, New Ross, in July, continues and it has emerged that the council was warned about the dangerous structure several times as far back as a decade ago.
The building at 4 John Street has been on the derelict sites register for years.
Despite repeated warnings about the ‘dangerous’ condition 4 John Street was in, including as recently as earlier this year, neither the owner or the county council carried out even remedial works, one local businessman said.
The back wall of four-storey Harney’s shoe shop on John Street – which has been closed for several years – collapsed at around 10.30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17, leading to the road being blocked to traffic every week day. Wexford County Council were notified the following morning and officials visited the site.
Demolition workers have been dismantling sections of the structure and strengthening the walls.
Wexford County Council came in to the site under the Dangerous Structures regulations and John Creed Assoc and Mythen Construction were hired and they brought in a specialist demolition expert.
It has emerged that the building at 4 John Street has been on Wexford County Council’s Derelict Sites register for four years and was valued at €85,000.
Conor Dervan, who owns New Ross Books shop two doors up from Harney’s said he warned the council about the state of the building, but nothing was done.
‘It’s really affecting the trade,’ Conor said.
‘I am completely blocked in some days. The turnover is well down, about 50 per cent on what you’d expect at this time of year. People are sending me messages saying it’s too hard for them to find parking because part of John Street car park is closed off and it’s too hard to get down.’
He said: ‘ The council were told years ago that the building was dangerous and they did nothing about it and I highlighted it after I opened my book shop. You could see how much the back of the building had decayed. The windowsills were pointing in at each other it had sunken in the middle so much. If they had done something a few years ago they would have saved themselves a fortune on cranes and construction works, but they left it a derelict building the whole time.’
A lack of communication from New Ross Municipal District council to local business owners has upset them greatly, as the works, being carried out by Mythen Construction, a Wexford company, have led to some noise and interruption to business.
The collapsed rear of 4 John Street.
Conor said he can see that the construction workers are taking out the building’s insides and reinforcing the walls with steel. ‘They have taken off the roof and some of the side walls. We are all concerned about how long this is going to take. I have been on social media trying to draw customers in.’
He said Harney’s is not the only derelict building which the council needs to look at reinforcing. There are four more buildings in the town centre listed on the register.
‘The Bumble Bee bar by the courthouse is definitely in need of being worked on. The council should do an audit of derelict buildings in the town. They are spending a lot of money on cranes. That money could have been spent some time ago on doing up Harney’s making it suitable for a family to live in and for a business to open downstairs.
‘The upsetting thing about it is that the council were told about this a decade ago.’
The area’s senior council engineer, a member of the council executive and a town councillor were all brought to the back of Harney’s building and shown how deteriorated the walls were. Subsequently another local premises owner alerted the council to the worrying condition of the building.
A few years later plaster began falling off the facade of the four-storey premises on to the street below. The front of the building was subsequently re-plastered.
A local man said: ‘A blind man on a galloping horse could see there was a problem and that something had to be done, nevermind to the rear of the building.’
There are concerns among local residents now that not enough attention is being paid to the front of the building.
A Wexford County Council spokesperson said they are trying to establish who owns the building which was leased by the late Jim Harney for decades.
Dating from 1840, Harney’s was a shoe shop for many years run by the late Jim Harney from 1966.
The building is listed as a protected structure and is one of Ireland’s national heritage buildings.
The spokesperson said Wexford County Council will do everything it can to ensure the best possible long term solution for the building in the interests of John Street and New Ross town centre.
All efforts will be made to maintain the architectural heritage of the street, he said, but it was stressed that the priority for Wexford County Council was public safety.
District Manager Sinead Casey said works will take another fortnight.
‘At the moment the contractor is installing structural steel to brace and support the terrace. Further works to weatherproof adjoining properties is also ongoing.’
She said due to the character of the terrace, the adjoining properties and lack of access and method of work are difficulties. ‘They are naturally causing works to be more cautious and slower. The contractor is taking every care and progressing well in the circumstances. The situation is an inconvenience to all, including the traders on the street and the public and the county council itself, but patience and understanding is appreciated as Wexford County Council is undertaking the work in the interest of public safety.’