Potential buyer for St Senan’s Hospital
ANY PLANS to house a third level institution within the grounds of the old St Senan’s Hospital may have been dealt a hammer blow this week as it emerged that negotiations are at an advanced stage with a potential buyer.
The former hospital had initially been listed for sale with a guide price of €780,000, and it is now at ‘sale agreed’ stage according to agents Purcell Properties.
While the identity of the potential buyer is still unknown, it is believed that they are local to the area and one of the potential uses for the property being mooted is a luxury hotel.
The agent overseeing the sale of the property, Des Purcell, refused to comment on the matter except to say that ‘it’s not sold until it’s all signed and finished’. Mr Purcell refused to be drawn on the identity of the interested party or their plans for the protected building, however, he did say that the potential buyer was not a state agency. He also says that it could be up to a month before the sale is finally over the line.
The HSE refused to comment on rumours saying: ‘The process of the HSE disposing of St Senan’s building and lands is continuing.’
The fact that the grounds are being purchased by a private party means that any plans to house a third level institution at St Senan’s will now be scrapped.
A number of interested parties had previously outlined a major plan to house a college within the grounds, which included transforming the protected St Senan’s building into student apartments. Negotiations had been ongoing with IT Carlow to try and convince them to build their new state of the art campus at St Senan’s rather than in Wexford town, but it seems like this will not be the case now.
Cllr Paddy Kavanagh, one of those behind the third level plan, had mixed feelings on the potential sale of St Senan’s.
‘I do believe that it is a bit of a missed opportunity,’ he said. ‘I think St Senan’s would have been the ideal location to house a third level institution, which Wexford still badly needs. At the same time, the HSE is trying to sell it and if it’s put to good use and something constructive is done with it, I’d have to welcome it. Anything is better than the way it is now and it could be long fallen down by the time all the agencies agree on some kind of plan for it.’
Cllr Kavanagh remained firm in his assertion that Wexford needs major investment in third level education and once again says that Enniscorthy is the ideal place for this investment to take place, owing to its central location.