Possible uses of the 'old' Erne hospital site were considered at this week's meeting of Fermanagh District Council, during which Enniskillen Councillor Frank Britton, a senior Social Worker, revealed that the Western Health and Social Care Trust favoured centralising all their offices at the Cornagrade Road site once it was vacated in 2012.
The issue was raised by Councillor Bernice Swift who, firstly, welcomed all the benefits that the new acute hospital would bring to Fermanagh. However, she believed that the Council should have some concerns about the future use of the site.
"I would suggest that this Council works very closely with the Department of Health in overseeing what's going to happen on that site".
However, the chief executive of the Council, Rodney Connor suggested that what happened to the present hospital site was a matter for the Department.
He went on: "There has been no discussion that I am aware of till now. Another Councillor did mention it at one time, but if it is the Council's wish, I will certainly contact the Minister's office and ask that we be kept informed in any future use of the Erne hospital site.
"You (Ms Swift) are quite right. It will be a very important site, but I am not aware of what lands will be surplus to requirements".
Mr Britton said it could be three or four years before the site was vacated, and he reminded the meeting the site was under the control of the Trust.
"They are likely to have ideas as to what will happen that site. It has a lot of accommodation throughout Enniskillen and I would not be surprised if one of their favourite options is they may decide to replace that accommodation and draw all their services that are currently spread throughout Enniskillen and further afield into that site".
Again, Comhairleoir Swift has raised an issue which I was intending to raise, and once again, it was on foot of a request by the Chief Executive to raise this formally on his behalf from the council floor. I guess that he has spoken to more than one of us to raise these issues.
Domhnall Ó Cobhthaigh felt it worthwhile that the disposal of the Hospital site was scrutinised by the Council. He said the site was located in close proximity to extensive housing estates that lie within the Devenish ward which had been recently assessed as falling in the 10% most deprived wards in the north.
"The use of this site is therefore of critical importance in addressing the pressing social and economic need in the area. It is important that this Council ensure that this is the case and, as such, I would support the request by Comhairleoir Swift".
A further dimension to the debate was added by Councillor Domhnall Ó Cobhthaigh who requested that a letter be sent to South-West College to find out if they could address the likely training needs of students who might want to find jobs in the new acute hospital.
"It is essential that local young people in particular are enabled to fully compete for the employment that is likely to be created by the new Hospital and we need to be taking steps now to ensure that this is the case.
Rodney Connor reported that this issue was being developed by the recently-formed Fermanagh Economic Development Organisation (FEDO).
"They hope to carry out a needs audit for training opportunities. Obviously, the main reason for that is to feed into the College as to what courses and training they should be providing. I would suggest we should wait until the Report of the needs audit is carried out so that we can go to the College fully armed".
But, Fergus McQuillan, a former primary head teacher, urged the Council to act now. He submitted that the South West College was presently putting together its prospectus for the new academic year and that students would need to know what courses were available and where.
The South-West College has three campuses, at Enniskillen, Omagh and Dungannon.
