Council acquiring Teach na nDaoine building

The building that was the Teach na nDaoine project is in the process of being taken over by Kildare County Council, writes Brian Byrne. This was revealed at last night's KCA meeting by Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer.

The building was handed back to the HSE late last year by the voluntary committee who had refurbished and extended the original Dispensary premises at a cost of €164,407. The reason was they didn't have the necessary expertise to manage the facility, envisioned as a drop-in centre for older people. In January the councillor pitched the idea to the Council to take it over. But the HSE wanted to charge for it and KCC didn't have the money to buy it. 

Cllr O'Dwyer told KCA that after some research it was found that the Council actually owns the land on which the Dispensary had been built by the original Eastern Health Board. "So they owned the building but they didn't own the piece of dirt it was built on." Eventually an agreement was reached and the transfer of the building is now 'going through solicitors'.

Cllr O'Dwyer added that, with the support of fellow councillors, agreement has been achieved to provide €60,000 a year for the next three years to bring the building to standard. "A lot of work needs to be done, including external work and paving. And there's bad dry rot in the original building." She said it will take time but the core function of a social facility for older people will materialise. "It's very early days, and we still have to work out how it will be managed, but the key thing was to acquire the building and that's happening."

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