Hopes high for new Ard Dealgan owner

THE ill fated Ard Dealgan complex on Quay Street has been bought by a Chinese consortium, Dundalk Municipal Committee members heard last week.

The condemned apartment block made headlines again recently as a video emerged online of two local men having gone into the complex and capturing the deserted structures such as broken elevator shaft and windows.

Cllr. Jennifer Green raised the images caught on camera at the January meeting, saying that it was extremely dangerous for the complex to be accessible.

Councillors heard that a Chinese consortium had bought the development, and the new owners had already begun carrying out feasibility studies at the site.

Members also heard that if plans for the complex match the financial model, it was hoped to progress as outlined, several months ago, with a voluntary housing body.

Councillors were told that intensive efforts were being made to ensure progress is made on the development.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr. Green welcomed the news that ‘ the Ard Dealgan nightmare could be coming to an end.’

She said she had been ‘ working on this issue for years now and we have been pushing for the site to be used for social housing.

At the meeting I was told that a consortium have bought the building and are proposing to renovate it.

They will be doing initial studies and costings to see if it will be viable for social housing. It’s not clear at this stage if that will be the case.

The Council and Sinn Féin would prefer this option obviously but we will have to wait and see.’

Cllr Green had urged young people not to be entering the complex due to the dangerous state it was in and also the danger of running into anti-social people within the building. ‘I have been told that the new owners will send a security firm to guard the building to ensure no-one is living within it and that no anti-social behaviour is taking place and this should happen in the next four to six weeks.’

‘However, if all this falls through the Council can still activate the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and look at pushing through social housing. Either way, I feel it is safe to say, we can see light at the end of this nightmare tunnel at long last.’

Ard Dealgan was built by controversial developer Tom McFeeley and has remained unoccupied since 2009 due to health and safety concerns and has been a constant source of concern for the area due to the anti-social activity it has attracted.