Shock has been expressed at the revelation that Tipperary County Council is attempting to sell the historic Workhouse in Tipperary Town. The plan was revealed by Councillor John Crosse (FG) following a meeting of resident about possible diversion of heavy vehicles along O'Connel Road and other matters.
Advertisement for "Investment Opportunity"
Despite no "for sale" sign appearing at the site, an advertisement on property website MyHome.ie states "we are instructed by Tipperary County Council to invite expressions of interest to purchase and complete the reconstruction of the above property". The ad states that the Workhouse was built in 1841.
Large amounts of money were spent in recent years to convert the building into a hostel and the adjoining church was restored to a very high standard. Since then, the building has been the subject of vandalism and it has been allowed by the Council to fall into dereliction.
One of the demands of the March4Tipp campaign, which included marches involving many thousands of people, was that heritage buildings owned by the Council, including the Workhouse, should be preserved and restored.
- The advertisement of the Workhouse for sale on property website myhomes.ie
Guarded Methods Used
No signage has been erected at the site indicating it is for sale and the property has not been listed with any local auctioneer. It is listed with Tom Pollard Properties, of Clonmel. There appears to have been no local knowledge of this attempted sale and it is surprising that there was no announcement by the Council of its intention to sell such an iconic part of the town's heritage. Such was the apparent secrecy of the move, that those present when Councillor Crosse disclosed the Council's intentions were shocked at the news. He went on to assert that it had been for sale "for years".
The Council established the Town Centre Forum, which has a representation from the Heritage Group on it. It is surprising that there has been no publicity around this attempt to sell such an important part of our heritage.
