Owner of empty plaza in Wexford town only wants it used for a new theatre to replace Dun Mhuire

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Officials from Wexford County Council (WCC) have met with the owner of the plaza at the Crescent Quay in an attempt to find a use for the vacant site. However, despite bringing a number of proposals to the table, the officials were informed that the owner is only interested in the site being used to develop a new theatre.

In recent months, with the site becoming a haven for daytime drinking and anti-social behaviour, county councillors have proposed a number of uses for the site, including a farmer’s market, a space for young musicians, and a basketball court.

Complicating the issue further is that WCC entered into an agreement with the landowner to use the site as a carpark when it signed a ten-year lease in 2021.

At the monthly meeting of the Wexford Borough District, Councillor Tom Forde asked whether the council could sever the lease it entered into five years ago if the landowner wasn’t open to alternative uses for the site.

“It was a good idea to utilise that space for the Fleadh, but, at this point, the council isn’t the obstacle to using that site, it’s the landowner,” he said.

“We need to put as much pressure as possible on them so that we can use that site for something else. We’re obviously limited in what we can do because of the contract we entered into but it would be a shame if we didn’t utilise it during the remainder of our lease. Is there a point of us keeping that lease if we’re not able to avail of it and the space is going to sit there, unused, for years?”

Director of services Alan Quirke was part of the delegation which met with the landowner and said a “long discussion” had taken place where both parties “tried to work out some solutions”.

“They’re willing to offer it as a theatre site, but that entails a huge capital investment on our behalf,” he said. “We already have the Wexford Arts Centre and the Opera House, we need to focus on maximising them.

“We raised the possibility of other temporary uses, including a farmer’s market or a Christmas market; there wasn’t huge openness to those ideas. “

“The feedback we got was that the any potential uses were limited to what would develop the site commercially,” said Mr Quirke. “Other options were raised but there wasn’t engagement on them.”

Turning his attention to administrative matters, Cllr Leonard Kelly asked how much WCC had spent on the site since acquiring it in 2021.

“550,000,” came the response from Mr Quirke. “That included public realm works, street lighting, and landscaping, it’s up to your personal view whether we got value for money but we did get two Fleadhs out of it.”

With the site leased to WCC until 2031 it remains to be seen if it will be used over the next five years. But Cllr Catherine Biddy Walsh hadn’t given up on appealing to the landowner’s sense of civic pride.

“I did suggest they give us the site, I presume they said no to that?”