EIRCOM SITE NEXT TO ICE HOUSE HILL COULD BE WORTH MILLIONS
December 2004
EIRCOM find themselves sitting on a crock of gold in the centre of Dundalk, a landbank which could be worth €10 million, part of which the town council thought it owned.
The land is located in The Demesne, next to Ice House Hill Park, and once formed part of the estate of the Earl of Clanbrassil.
Eircom lodges a planning application with the council to build 93 houses and 32 apartments on the 7.5 acre site, part of which is currently occupied by the company’s stores and offices built in the 1980s which would have to be demolished if the housing is to proceed.
The land is zoned for ‘general business use’ which in effect means that it can be used for commercial or residential development.
It is ringed by a ten-foot stone wall which formed part of the kitchen garden on the Clanbrassil estate. Plans for the proposed development envisage retaining this wall, an attractive feature on the boundaries of Ice House Hill Park.
Outside of the wall lies a green area (almost one acre) at the rear of Carroll Mead houses which for years the town council believed it owned.
The local authority maintains the area and installed surface drains on the land at one stage.
However, when plans are examined for a possible extension of Carroll Mead, it is discovered the land actually belongs to Eircom.
Town clerk Frank Pentony tells councillors he is ‘ gobsmacked’ to learn that
Eircom owns the strip of land.
Cllr Séamus Keelan expresses the view that in the light of all the money lost by Dundalk residents in Eircom shares, the company should cede the land to the people of Dundalk.
However, Eircom includes the 0.952 acres in their plans for the development which would include 65 three-bedroom terraced homes, 22 three-bedroom semi-detached homes, 6 four-bedroom semi-detached homes, 20 two-bedroom apartment units and 12 three-bedroom duplex units.
They also submit as part of their plans an intention to demolish an existing house on the Demesne Road (next to Ice House Hull Park) to widen the entrance to the houses.
The right-of-way that currently exists through the houses on the Demesne
Road, and running at the rear of Carroll Mead to give pedestrian access to Pearse Park and Árd Easmuinn is retained in the Eircom plans.
Councillors who want to see the rightof-way remain may now have to look at the prospect that it will become a narrow lane at the rear of Carroll Mead.
At one stage 130 people were employed by then-Telecom in the stores and offices, but since the company is privatised by Eircom much of the work is outsourced and only thirty people work there.
The company says in its plans those employees could be accommodated at The Ramparts site or in premises elsewhere.
It does not necessarily mean Eircom will develop the site themselves. They may put the site up for sale.