Cork TD calls for vacant State buildings in the city to be put to community use

Two out of the three vacant buildings owned by the Department of Justice are located in Cork city, as a TD has called for them to be put to community use.

Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould asked justice minister Jim O’Callaghan through a parliamentary question for the number of unused sites or buildings owned by his department in each county.

Mr O’Callaghan said the department owns three vacant buildings nationally, with two of them in Cork city — Westview House and the old Cork prison.

The other vacant building is at Thornton Hall in Dublin.

The Westview House property, at 17 Audley Place, at the top of Patrick’s Hill, is a three-storey, Victorian-era house.

Mr O’Callaghan said the building is under the Probation Service and has been largely vacant since 2019, apart from ad hoc use to conduct remote interviews for international protection.

“The old Cork prison site consists of a number of buildings including prisoner accommodation blocks, some of which date back to the 19th century, a work and training area, and staff mess,” said Mr O’Callaghan.

“The facility closed in 2016 following the transfer of prisoners to a new facility built on a site adjacent to the former prison.

“The facility is in a very poor physical state and unsuitable for use in its current form. It is intended to construct a new prison on the site of the old Cork prison.”

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Gould said: “It is absolutely disgraceful that the minister for justice has allowed two buildings in Cork fall into these levels of disrepair.

“These buildings are in the heart of communities that are in dire need of community services.

“Is it any wonder our city is plagued with vacancy and dereliction when this is being done by State bodies?”