'It can’t go on as it is': Calls for action at former Good Shepherd Convent following blaze 

Northside councillors have called for action to be taken following the latest in a series of fires at a former convent and Magdalene Laundry which has been on the derelict sites register since 2019.

The former Good Shepherd Convent site in Sunday’s Well suffered its fifth blaze in recent years last Friday evening, with two units of Cork Fire Brigade putting out a fire inside the ruined building.

Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins said it was “absolutely disgraceful” that the property had been allowed to fall into dereliction.

Calls for CPO of site 

Noting that this had been the fifth fire in the property in the last number of years, Mr Collins said he and his colleague Michelle Gould would be calling on Cork City Council to enact a CPO (compulsory purchase order) on the site.

“If this continues, it will be only a matter of time before someone is killed,” Mr Collins warned.

He added that he favoured the development of the site for social housing, perhaps as step-down housing for older people.

Ms Gould said she favoured a CPO and social housing on the site, but raised concerns about accessibility in an area which is already prone to traffic congestion.

“Public transport would have to be prioritised ahead of any development,” she said.

First purchased by UCC in 1995, the Good Shepherd site was subsequently bought by developer Pat Hegarty, who sold it to Frinailla in 2011 for €20m.

It was purchased by current owners, Drogheda-based Moneda Developments Limited, in 2016 for €1.5m. 

In December of 2017, Moneda secured planning permission with the provision that its proposal for 234 apartments at the site be reduced to 182. Planning permission expired in December of 2023.

Fianna Fáil councillor Dr John Sheehan said his feeling was that, given the site’s history, it should become a sheltered housing development.

He said he would support a CPO, but he said the developers needed to be held to account and “a fair and realistic price” agreed.

“It can’t go on as it is, it’s just going to be burnt to the ground the way it’s going,” he said.

Plan for the site 

Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan said a clear plan was needed if the site was to be subject to a CPO.

“Maybe the council aren’t the people to buy it, maybe another State agency can buy it, and use it for housing for older people, sheltered housing, something where it won’t add to traffic congestion in the area, something where it can be put to good use for the whole of the community,” he said.

Brian McCarthy, People Before Profit-Solidarity for the ward, decried what he said was “another case of wealthy owners allowing a listed building to fall to rack and ruin” and called on the council to CPO the site.

“Beyond the building itself, this site also has a mass grave of women who died in the Magdalene laundry, which should be preserved in their memory, alongside the building being repurposed for either housing or some community use,” Mr McCarthy said.

Fianna Fáil’s Tony Fitzgerald said Moneda needed to “re-engage constructively with Cork City Council as regards its plans for the site”, adding that a CPO would be “a burden on the taxpayer”.

The Echo was unsuccessful in attempts to contact Moneda Developments.