“The sooner we have control of the building, the sooner we can secure the roof and make the building weathertight”
Councillor Kevin Callan has said that is absolutely incredible that Drogheda’s Westgate House has been in the possession of the Office of Public Works, the statutory body responsible for national monuments, for years and they have allowed it to deteriorate to its current state of dereliction.
The Independent Councillor said however, that he is “very relieved” to hear that Louth County Council are in the final stages of acquiring the building from the Office of Public Works.
Councillor Callan had a motion on the agenda of the April meeting of the Borough of Drogheda on Monday calling on the Council to take every available step to protect the structural integrity of West Gate House.
He said that urgent action was needed to carry out structural repairs to the roof of the building with water gaining access for years.
“The motion is based on the building being of historic importance to Drogheda as it contains a section of the medieval wall of our town” he said.
In a written reply the Council’s Director of Organisational Development, Joe McGuinness, said that Louth County Council are in the final stages of the acquisition of this site from the OPVW.
“Once concluded the Council will have the opportunity to review the structural integrity of the building and its use will then be included in the West Gate Vision project” he said.
Councillor Callan thanked the Council for their response and highlighted issues of the roof in particular to the front of the building where large gaps are allowing rain in and which could impact on the gable wall closest to the dual carriageway.
He said that the building was one of the worst examples of dereliction in Ireland and, to make matters worse, the building is built on the medieval wall of Drogheda.
“The sooner we have control of the building, the sooner we can secure the roof and make the building weathertight” he said.
