‘No compulsory purchase attempt' to buy Cork's Vernon Mount

THERE are concerns that no attempts have been made to acquire Cork’s Vernon Mount by compulsory purchase order despite the city council naming its newest pedestrian bridge after it.

At last July’s meeting of Cork City Council, the decision was taken to name the new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the N40 the Vernon Mount Bridge, after the adjacent derelict Vernon Mount site.

Vernon Mount House, a neo-classical Georgian mansion built in the 1780s and overlooking the South Ring Road, has fallen into extreme dereliction in recent years and was badly damaged in a fire in 2016.

Despite calls last year for the council to compulsorily purchase the Vernon Mount site, City Hall did not answer multiple questions from The Echo as to whether it had followed up on these.

Peter Horgan, the Labour Party’s local election candidate in Cork City South East, has consistently called on the city council to purchase Vernon Mount. His party colleague, Cork East TD Seán Sherlock, recently asked the Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe whether the Office of Public Works (OPW) had received any communication from Cork City Council on the issue of acquiring the property.

Mr Sherlock was told the OPW had been made aware that the property had been placed on the Derelict Sites Register and was in the ownership of a live company.

“The Commissioners of Public Works therefore have no legal interest in this building, and are not aware of any attempt by the local authority to compulsorily acquire the property,” the reply stated.

In late 2021, Mr Sherlock was told by the then-public expenditure minister Michael McGrath that the lands surrounding the house were owned by a company which had dissolved, meaning “these lands may have devolved to the State”.

However, Mr McGrath said the house and its immediate curtilage was owned by a separate, live company with up-to-date annual returns and a normal Company Registration Office status.

Mr Horgan said this week it was ironic that the city council had named its newest pedestrian bridge after Vernon Mount, while the historic property had been allowed to fall into dereliction.

“It’s frankly shocking how disinterested authorities are in this piece of history of Cork. The OPW seem to be making every effort to not get involved, while the onus remains on the council to take the first steps,” Mr Horgan said.

“We need to protect and enhance our historical houses, along with the stories they hold. If they disappear our history will disappear.”

Cork City Council was asked for comment.