BY CJ McGINLEY
A retired Psychiatric Nurse has this week described the growing dilapidation of a large wing of St Conal's Hospital in Letterkenny as a "crying shame".
Eddie McMenamin, who spent 33 years working in St Conal's said "millions" were being spent by the Health Service Executive renting property around Letterkenny and Donegal yet this ' building which was used by the Letterkenny Institute of Technology up until four years ago is now falling into a state of ruin.
"Just look at what the HSE could save on rent around the county if they spent a few million renovating and refurbishing this building and used it again," Mr McMenamin told the Donegal News at the hospital on Tuesday.
"This building could be developed again and used as a one stop shop for a range of different medical services and the whole lot could be on the one campus. There is plenty of space adjacent to the building also for a huge car park," he added.
When contacted this week the HSE declined to give the Donegal News specific details of the amount of money being paid out for rental accommodation for its various services in Letterkenny. Instead it issued the following statement.
"Until recently the building referred to was occupied by the Letterkenny Institute of Technology, and is now lying vacant. We are currently progressing a project which will make use of this building as a 'Child Development Centre'. Initial approval has been received from the National Director of Estates for this project and we are currently finalising design briefing documentation in advance of procuring a design team," the statement read.
"The project will re-accommodate many of the staff currently occupying rental accommodation in Letterkenny, indeed this formed a significant element of the Business Case which led to the approval of the project," the statement concluded.
The 'new building' was opened in 1912 and at its height housed over 160 patients. It closed in the late 1980s and early '90s but was then refurbished with new floors and a new heating system and used as a campus for the LYIT Arts Department until it relocated to the new campus on Port Road four years ago.
"The place fell into ruin after that. It was so bad that some floors were set alight. There are 144 windows in the three storey building and the vast majority are now broken. It is terrible to see that happening to what could be a vibrant centre for the HSE," Mr McMenamin said.
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