Initial talks take place regarding future of military barracks in Tipperary

Fianna Fáil TD for North Tipperary, Ryan O’Meara has stated that he is pleased that an initial meeting took place today in relation to the current state of the military barracks on Summerhill in Nenagh, but stated that there is a ‘job of work’ to be done by the Department of Defence and other state agencies to bring this site back into active community use.

Deputy Ryan O’Meara, Cllr JP O’Meara, Rosemary Joyce, Deputy Alan Kelly and Cllr Louise Morgan Walsh attended a meeting today with officials from the Department of Defence in order to discuss the future of the Nenagh Military Barracks, Summerhill.

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Deputy O’Meara organised this meeting with the assistance of An Tánaiste, Simon Harris’ office and the Property Management section of the Department of Defence.

Following the meeting today in Dublin, Deputy O’Meara stated: “I am of the viewpoint that the Nenagh Military Barracks site cannot be transferred to Tipperary County Council in its current format. It is too much of a financial obligation and burden to put on Tipperary County Council and I made this point from the very outset of the meeting.”

Following on from this meeting, a number of action points have been taken and some helpful information gathered.

Deputy O’Meara said: “Officials informed the delegation that as of 2022, the site is registered with Land Registry under the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

“Officials agreed with my request that a survey of the site would be needed to understand the current condition of the existing buildings and the rights of way going through the site, before the site could be transferred to any other state agency, if that is to happen.

“Officials agreed that a working group would be proposed to senior management within the Department of Defence. This would be a multi-agency working group. Some of the suggestions coming from the representatives at the meeting were that the NPWS, OPW, the Land Development Agency and the Department of Defence would be involved in this working group. The role of the working group is essentially to look at a future road map for the site.

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“Finally, officials also agreed to undertake safety measures around the Military Barracks to ensure that the site is secured and safe. They also agreed that some measures would be taken to tidy parameter of the site.”

The Fianna Fáil TD shared that he is “delighted to be working on this and I will continue this work on behalf of my constituents as there is a job of work to be done on this issue”.

Speaking, following this meeting, Cllr JP O’Meara said: “I was delighted to attend this meeting today, alongside Ryan O’Meara TD and other representatives, and to be a local voice on this issue for the people of Nenagh. The current condition of the Military Barracks site on Summerhill is a major concern for the people of Nenagh that I represent. It is important that we see collaboration between various state agencies to take responsibility for the site as it stands and map out their next steps for this town-central, historical site.”