Galway Hospice closer to new home after axed plans and decade-long hunt – ‘What is here is not good enough’
After nearly a decade of failed sites, planning appeals and prolonged negotiations, Galway Hospice believes it is finally edging closer to securing a new, purpose-built home.
The charity is hopeful of submitting a planning application in 2026 for a new hospice facility in Ballybane, in partnership with the HSE, that would more than double its current capacity and ease mounting pressure on its Renmore premises.
Galway Hospice chief executive Mary Nash sat down with the Irish Independent to explain how they got here and what’s to come.
The proposed site is located near the John Paul Centre, approximately 1.5km from the existing hospice adjacent to Bon Secours Hospital. Ms Nash said the project remains at an early stage, but momentum is now building after years of setbacks.
Tenders for the appointment of a project manager were issued in November 2025 and returned before Christmas, she said, and are currently being evaluated. Separately, the HSE sought expressions of interest in December for an energy-efficient design consultant through a Suitability Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).
Once a project manager is appointed, the hospice aims to have a full design team in place before the end of March and submit the planning application by the end of September.
“The target would be that we would have a planning application in this year by quarter three, whether that's realistic or not. I think we're still looking at a four-to-five year horizon.”
The development, which is expected to cost between €30m and €40m, would be funded through what Ms Nash suggests will be a 50-50 split between the hospice foundation and the HSE. Under the co-development agreement, Galway Hospice’s financial contribution will be capped, with the HSE underwriting the remaining costs.
Galway Hospice was established 35 years ago by a group of doctors and nurses who identified a need for a dedicated palliative care facility, initially operating out of rented offices in Prospect Hill.
The current Renmore building accommodates 12 inpatient beds, with six additional semi-permanent beds added eight years ago as demand for services increased.
Despite continuous internal reconfiguration, the site is now struggling to appropriately meet the needs of patients, families and staff.
“If we're getting complaints it's about the infrastructure,” Ms Nash said as she explained palliative care involves sensitive and emotional events throughout the care process including death, and suboptimal patient housing can add a negative light to that experience.
Private family areas are limited, she added, with one family sitting room shared alongside an art room, dining area and reception space. Counselling rooms, offices and therapy spaces are heavily booked, forcing staff to share and repurpose rooms throughout the day.
Depending on patient need, rooms are shared.
“We’ve taken out all our boardrooms,” Ms Nash said, pointing to a small six-seat table in what is now one of the few remaining offices. “We’ve created office space, counselling rooms, we’re constantly tweaking.”
Successful day-care initiatives, including respiratory and anxiety management programmes, now operate up to four days a week in a space that was once used twice weekly.
While Ms Nash praised her staff for navigating the constraints, she said the situation is far from ideal.
“What is here is not good enough,” she said.
Efforts to relocate the hospice long predate Ms Nash’s appointment as CEO in 2014. Her predecessor had assessed more than 20 potential sites, including land near Ross Hill, before narrowing in on a preferred option.
When the proposal was presented to the HSE, however, the hospice was encouraged to consider land already in State ownership, including a site at Merlin Park. Galway Hospice agreed, expressing a preference to purchase rather than lease the land.
By 2018, plans were progressing for HSE land fronting Merlin Park, but the site was zoned for recreation and amenity. Ms Nash said the hospice engaged extensively with councillors, and after two council votes and 18 months of lobbying, the land was rezoned and a planning application submitted for a 36-bed facility.
Local concerns centred on the loss of green space and environmentalism, prompted design changes, including the removal of a proposed car park. With those adjustments, planning permission was granted, only to be appealed to An Bord Pleanála by An Taisce, Friends of Merlin Woods, and Claire Hillery in 2019.
Despite a favourable inspector’s report, the board overturned the decision, effectively ending the project.
“When we went to An Bord Pleanála, we wanted to make sure we didn't leave any stone unturned,” Ms Nash said. A senior counsel was hired for the process and had a lot of faith in the development progressing through the planning stage. “Senior counsel told me, ‘What am I doing here? This is a no-brainer.’”
The decision, she said, shattered years of work.
The search for a new site resumed on the same year, but then paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several alternative sites were assessed, including land near Terryland and the Galway Clinic, but each presented insurmountable zoning, access or ownership issues.
It was the end of 2021 when eyes were set on a proposed site from the HSE land bank in Ballybane, currently leased by the Brothers of Charity. Galway Hospice initially sought to purchase the land, but was informed after 18 months of negotiations that the HSE no longer sells land, though a lease arrangement remained possible. The Brothers of Charity surrendered the lease on some of the land in 2025 for the development of the new facility.
That process has now led to a co-development agreement between the hospice foundation and the HSE, which Ms Nash said strikes a balance between State support and organisational independence.
“I'm a firm believer you have to work in partnership,” she said. “There’s good and bad in every partnership, but it’s about respect.”
She described Galway Hospice’s Section 38 status as the best of both worlds, allowing it to retain autonomy, innovate and fundraise, while benefiting from strong HSE funding.
“If we were fully controlled by the HSE, that becomes more difficult,” she said. “Whereas, we have the ability to innovate and to do the things that make a difference to patients. That's something the fundraising supports.”
A patient council made up of former service users is now advising on the forthcoming planning application, which will incorporate updated data and long-term projections. Many of the architectural designs prepared for the older Park development can also be adapted for the Ballybane site.
Ms Nash hopes to see the design team chosen by early Spring and a planning application in the works by the end of the year.
Once a design team is in place, Ms Nash expects the hospice to brief Galway City Council directly.
Asked whether there is concern about another planning refusal, she paused.
“You hope that lightning wouldn’t strike twice,” she said.
Despite the uncertainty, she believes the prolonged delay has brought unexpected benefits.
“The service has matured and developed in this period of time,” she said. “There were things we didn’t know at that stage that we probably know now.”
Nearly 1,000 patients accessed Galway Hospice services last year through a combination of inpatient and home-based care, recent figures show. Over four decades, Ms Nash said, few families in the region have not been touched by the service in some way.
“When you go through that journey, no matter who you are and where you are, it's something that's inevitable for everybody,” she said. “Having somebody there that takes that weight away just makes a huge difference and people remember that.”