Proposal to create Main St work hub

PLANNING PERMISSION is being sought to transform the former Goggin Brothers hardware store on Wexford’s Main Street into a new development incorporating a shared working hub, public meeting rooms, retail space and a cafe.

An application has been lodged with Wexford County Council for the project at 34-36 North Main Street by Sinead Goggin and Stephanie McCabe, with plans drawn up by Alan Byrne Design.

Goggin Bros Hardware closed down in 2005 after more than 30 years of trading.

The premises was later leased by Sport Savers which closed in 2017 when a liquidator was appointed to the company.

The application, which is currently being considered by the planning authority, is for alterations and a change of use of the 255.5 square metre retail unit to a 193 square metre shared working hub and public access meeting room spaces on ground floor and lower ground floor levels and 62.5 square metres of ground floor retail unit to include a small coffee house for the sale and consumption of food and drink on and off the premises, along with associated site works.

The National Invenstory of Architectural Heritage refers to the property at 34-36 North Main Street as being an important element of the built heritage of the locality.

It dates back to between 1765 and 1785.

It was the birthplace of General O’Herron (born pre-1798), a general in Louis Napoleon 11’s 1808-1873 army.