Concern grows over the future of St Michael's Hospital, Dún Laoghaire, since adjoining car park was sold. Theresa Judgereports
Developer Noel Smyth has denied suggestions that he is trying to acquire the site of St Michael's Hospital in Dún Laoghaire.
However, he says that if the owners decide in the future to sell, he would be interested in buying it.
He accuses campaigners who have organised public meetings and a protest in Dún Laoghaire against the sale or relocation of the hospital of "adding one and one and getting 111" and of "drumming up fear that doesn't exist".
The management of St Michael's Hospital, which has had discussions with Smyth about the site, has meanwhile stressed that it has no plans to sell or dispose of the site, pointing to plans to build new operating theatres but expressing "disappointment" that an adjoining car park it wanted to buy was sold to Smyth.
Much of the concern over the future of St Michael's stems from this decision by the Sisters of Mercy to sell the adjoining car park, which is used by hospital staff and patients, to Smyth rather than to the hospital which is owned by the Sisters of Charity.
Hospital management said this week that the car park was "an integral part of the current hospital services".
Smyth has also insisted that he is not offering to find an alternative site to which St Michael's could relocate. "I told them [St Michael's management] that I did not have any suitable site for a hospital in the Dún Laoghaire area," he says.
As far as he is concerned, the St Michael's site is not for sale and his priority now is to go ahead with developing the site he has bought from the Sisters of Mercy.
He expects to lodge a planning application soon for the development, which will include a residential scheme on the seafront beside St Michael's. Part of this development also involves a joint project with the Sisters of Mercy, he says.
In a statement, St Vincent's Healthcare Group (SVHG), which manages both St Michael's and St Vincent's Hospital on behalf of the Sisters of Charity, refers to considering "very preliminary, unsolicited, exploratory proposals from a developer to acquire the site and, as part of that proposed deal, SVHG would be provided with a new hospital".
Pressed on this, a hospital spokesman said they were "awaiting high level proposals from Mr Smyth."
Smyth insists he is not involved in any ongoing discussions with the management of St Michael's.
He says St Michael's management, mindful of the limitations of the current site, asked him if he had any alternative site.
When pressed on this point of St Michael's approaching him, Smyth says: "They had originally approached the Sisters of Mercy and we picked up on those discussions, but these discussions have been ongoing for a few years and involved everybody from the HSE, the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of Charity.
"All we were effectively asked to do is say if they were interested in moving out, would we be interested in taking on the site, and as adjoining owners we said of course we would but no agreement has been done," he adds.
Smyth accepts that he approached the Sisters of Mercy to buy their site, which includes the car park used by St Michael's and a former nurses home.
All of St Michael's was controlled by the Sisters of Mercy until 2001, when, in a larger deal involving the exchange of a number of properties, the hospital was handed over to the Sisters of Charity. However, the Sisters of Mercy retained the adjoining car park and a former nurses' home.
Smyth's purchase of the car park and the news that St Michael's management was in discussions with him raised fears over recent weeks for the future of the hospital.
Up to 400 people attended a public meeting last week and a cross-party community-led committee was formed - the St Michael's Hospital Community Action Group. A protest rally organised by William Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit Alliance is also to be held on July 14th.
Chairman of the hospital action group, Michael Merrigan, says his priority is to establish the facts of what is happening. He points to pledges from the hospital management to develop services further and says the committee will be requesting meetings with the hospital management, the HSE, the Sisters of Mercy and the Department of Health.
The Sisters of Mercy decision to sell Smyth the car park has undoubtedly created problems for the management of St Michael's which says it has been given no clear reason why they chose to sell it to him when they knew the hospital management wanted to acquire it. When asked about this, a Sisters of Mercy spokesman would not comment except to repeat a statement issued at the time of the sale, confirming the car park had been sold to Wexele, a subsidiary of Smyth's development company Alburn.
The spokesman pointed to a line in the statement from the Sisters of Mercy saying: "The new owners have agreed to consider, where possible, the needs of St Michael's Hospital in the context of the overall development of the site."
In addition to the residential scheme he is planning on the seafront, the project will include a joint scheme with the Sisters of Mercy in which he will redevelop the former nurses' home as a residence for retired nuns and for some community facilities.
Smyth says he does not know why St Michael's management had not succeeded in buying the car park. The Irish Times understands there was no bidding process.
In its statement, the St Vincent's Hospital Group attempts to explain why it entered into discussions with Smyth while also drawing attention to the fact that the hospital site is not ideal for a modern hospital.
"It was incumbent on the board of SVHG to entertain such a proposal, however preliminary, as it is possible that a more suitable site for a modern hospital could be identified that would serve the Dún Laoghaire people.
"Any speculation as to the whereabouts of such a site is premature. Any proposals in respect of St Michael's Hospital would require consultation with the HSE, staff and all other interested parties," reads the statement.
It adds: "It is important that it is understood that the current site and physical structure has its limitations, which is not entirely unexpected considering some of the buildings date back more than 100 years. Undoubtedly, the future operation of St Michael's at its current site will be adversely affected if the car park site that is currently being used by patients and staff is no longer available to the hospital."
However, a large part of the statement from the management of St Michael's also stresses the commitment to develop the hospital and to retain it in Dún Laoghaire.
"St Vincent's Healthcare Group [ SVHG] does not have any plans to dispose of the site of St Michael's Hospital either by sale or site swap. As has been already pointed out, it is exploring various options for the development of St Michael's and is in discussions with the HSE regarding a range of new developments on the existing site, including the construction of new operating theatres and new day care and endoscopy facilities. SVHG is in the process of preparing to submit a planning application in this regard," the statement says.
"SVHG remains fully committed to St Michael's. Ongoing enhancements of medical services at the hospital include the development of a new hypertension research facility as part of the heart failure/clinical services at the hospital, in collaboration with a number of partners."
When referring to discussions with a developer about selling the site in exchange for a new hospital, it adds: "SVHG has stipulated that if St Michael's Hospital moves to an alternative site, this must be located in the Dún Laoghaire area to serve the local population."