No decision has been made to sell the Heath commonage in Co Laois, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Mr Martin Cullen, said last night The Laois Nationalist reported yesterday that the 426acre area, east of Portlaoise, was for sale. But Mr Cullen said this was "a bit premature". He said there were outstanding legal issues to be resolved.
Mr Cullen said the sale of the land would eventually be "one of the obvious options" for the land. However, he said that "to suggest at this stage the OPW are about to sell it is incorrect".
Asked whether advertisements for the sale of the Health would be placed by the end of the year, Mr Cullen said "no decision of that nature has been made".
The reports which said the land was currently on sale were based on "a misunderstanding", said Mr Cullen. However, the OPW has sent a letter to Portlaoise town commissioner Mr Joe McCormack stating the Heath would be sold by public tender and the OPW expected the tenders would be in by the end of the year.
Mr McCormack has called for standing orders to be suspended at the next commission meeting in June, "so as a short discussion can take place between us as to the viability of our commission purchasing the land at the Heath to use for the Midland Regional Airport Project".
The Heath, one of the few remaining commonages in the State, is being used by a golf club, a GAA club and by more than 40 sheep farmers. One of the farmers who is representing 40 others who took and won a class action in the Circuit Court last February was reluctant to comment on the issue. The Circuit Court found 40 farmers had legally established their commonage and grazing rights on the Heath.
The Heath GAA club secretary, Mr Seamus McGrath, was reported as being "somewhat surprised" when informed about the possible sale of the Heath.
"At present, we have a 99year lease and pay a small yearly licence to the OPW. It [the possible sale of the land] could prove beneficial, as the club may be able to buy the own pitches and land," he said.