New Ross primary care centre back on the agenda as councillor confirms tenders are due to be invited next week

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The much delayed New Ross primary care centre is back on the agenda again after local councillor Michael Sheehan confirmed it had received the green light for planning from the HSE. Although a previous agreement to develop a primary care centre fell through due to its “economic viability”, Cllr Sheehan said that, following meetings with its Property Review Group (PRG), the HSE has begun the process of developing the new medical facility in New Ross.

“The Primary Care Centre has received approval following consultation with the HSE’s Property Review Group (PRG),” said Cllr Sheehan. “The HSE’s estate management now has the green light to go to tender and that is expected to happen at the end of next week. Once it goes to tender developers can make proposals for the contract to the HSE and by the end of January it will be whittled down to one or two parties.”

Given the issues with securing a site in the past, Cllr Sheehan said his preference would be for the facility to be “centrally located” and said there were a “couple of areas which could be suitable”.

"I’ll be pushing for a 5,000 square metre building, a higher-end of the scale facility,” he continued. “The child and family agency TUSLA will have offices in the centre and it will see the amalgamation of a lot of services which are currently in Kilkenny, Wexford, and Waterford; there will be an increase in commercial trade in New Ross as a result with more people commuting in and out of the town every day.”

Noting that there still remained an air of pessimism with regards to the number of planned projects in the offing for New Ross and its surrounds, Cllr Sheehan urged the people of the area to keep the faith as they waited for a new primary care centre, the pedestrianisation of Quay Street, and the new Norman Visitor Centre.

“2026 will see a lot of planning, a lot of shovels going in the ground. And now, with so much happening in the town, there are a lot of commercial ventures expressing an interest in coming to New Ross. So it’s about sticking with it now because there’s a tidal wave of investment coming down the line.”