Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has slammed the Government and the Office of Public Works (OPW) for what he described as an “utterly unacceptable and disgraceful failure” to bring the former Hollywood Garda Station in West Wicklow back into use, more than 13 years after its closure.
Deputy Brady said:
“It is beyond belief that a State-owned property could be left lying idle for over 13 years, particularly in the middle of a deep and worsening housing crisis. This is not just inefficiency; it is a damning indictment of this Government’s inability to manage public assets in the public interest.
As chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, I queried the current status of the former Garda station, we are now being told that so-called ‘title issues’ are still preventing any progress. That explanation simply does not stand up. Thirteen years is an extraordinary length of time to resolve legal matters of this nature. The public will rightly ask: what has actually been happening all this time?
This station should never have been closed in the first place. Its closure was a mistake that undermined policing in rural Wicklow. But to then leave the building vacant and deteriorating for over a decade is a second, even more glaring failure.
At a time when families are crying out for housing and communities are crying out for investment, it is indefensible that a perfectly viable public building is allowed to sit idle due to bureaucratic inertia.
The Government must act immediately. The Tánaiste must intervene to ensure that these so-called title issues are resolved without further delay and that this property is brought back into meaningful use.
Ideally, this building should be reopened as a Garda station to serve the local community. However, if that is not possible, then it must be repurposed without delay for housing or another urgently needed public use.
Enough is enough. The people of Wicklow deserve better than empty buildings and empty excuses.” Ends