Office of Public Works Priorities and Progress: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-19 ============================================================ Pauline Tully (SF), Cultural and Educational Panel Much has been said about the good work the OPW does, and I acknowledge that. However, there is also deep frustration about the number of buildings which are left lying idle for many years. Some of these buildings could be used as dwelling places and community spaces. I want to raise a couple of them with the Minister of State in the context of County Cavan. I live near the village of Kilnaleck in County Cavan. There is a house there that is attached to the Garda station. It was used to house gardaí over the years. The Garda sergeant and his family lived there for many years, but it has been lying idle for in excess of 20 years at this stage. Members of a local community group, which I was a member of at the time, wrote to the OPW around 20 years ago asking for the house to be transferred for community use. That request was refused. I raised the matter at a joint policing committee meeting a number of years ago and said that the properly could be used to house gardaí, because they are finding it difficult to pay rent like the rest of us, or given over to or sold to the local authority, whatever the mechanism is, to house a family. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and this house, which was recently renovated and which looks to be in good condition, could be used to house a family or members of An Garda Síochána. It is very frustrating that I cannot get an answer as to its intended use. It has been sitting there idle in the middle of the village idle for all of these years. Other requests have been made in relation to disused Garda stations being used as community spaces, and lots of community groups are looking for that. Again, however, they cannot a clear answer. I looked on the OPW site and saw properties listed as ready for disposal. I do not know if that they are going to be sold on the open market or if they are going to be transferred to community groups. Does that happen? What is the mechanism in that regard? I am also interested in an OPW site near Ballyconnell in County Cavan which is for sale. It is located on the Border road adjacent to the old A.W. Ennis mill. Previously, there was a Customs and Excise hut at the site. Local representatives are wondering whether the money received for this site will be ring-fenced for the local community or whether it just all goes back into a big pot. Another issue I wish to raise relates to OPW's Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre. Are there any plans to update the information provided to the public at this site on the basis of the recent discovery of a document confirming the transfer of Royal African Company shares from the notorious slave trader Edward Colston to King William III? This transfer made William governor of the largest transatlantic slave company operating at the time. The Dutch Parliament published a report entitled State and Slavery in 2023. It was the first report to quantify the financial value of colonial trade to the Dutch House of Orange. The basis of that trade included enslaving at least 600,000 African men, women and children and between 650,000 and 1 million people from Asia. The report indicates that the colonial profit for King William III, who was Prince of Orange as well King of England and who exerted control over Ireland and Scotland, and to his successors as Prince of Orange, Willem IV and Willem V, would be £465 million in today's money. Independent research commissioned by the current King of the Netherlands due to be published in September will also confirm that King Billy was a slave trader. Are there plans for the OPW to update the information provided to the public at the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre at the Oldbridge Estate, Drogheda, County Louth? --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-19