McDonald: ‘barracks could be game changer for Mullingar’

Columb Barracks could be a “game-changer” for Mullingar if its potential is maximised, according to Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

She was in the town last Friday, April 27, to meet local election candidates, MEP candidate Michelle Gildernew and Deputy Sorca Clarke.

During the trip, she visited Mullingar Park Hotel, Fore Distillery, and met Family Carers Ireland at Mullingar Arts Centre.

Deputy McDonald said the future use of Columb Barracks, where refugees and asylum seekers are being housed in tented and modular accommodation, would be reviewed under a Sinn Féin government.

“The most amazing people are using it, really smart and clever community groups, and you can see the potential of it – it could be a game changer for Mullingar,” she told the Westmeath Examiner.

“There needs to be a medium- and long-term plan as it’s a unique site and you only get one chance at a site like that.

“It’s strategically positioned in Mullingar and, Sorca [Clarke] has talked with me a lot about this, it is about the community.

“The veterans [of Columb Barracks], in fairness to them, need to have their space in there as well in recognition of their service to the state – they shouldn’t be disregarded.”

Deputy McDonald, who previously visited the site in 2021, said she is surprised to see it used for humanitarian accommodation.

“I don’t think we ever envisaged anyone would be in tents in it and that it would evolve in the way it did, but I don’t believe this is the end of the story for the barracks,” she said.

“We need to find the long-term appropriate use for what is a landmark site in Mullingar and I think it has to incorporate community, the arts and, in my opinion, it has to incorporate housing.”

The Sinn Féin leader said it was a “hard day out” for her party in the 2019 local elections in Westmeath when they failed to elect a councillor, but she is confident that will change on June 7.

“There’s six weeks to go and we’re conscious that strong local representation across Westmeath is important for communities,” she said.

“This round of local elections is possibly the most important in a generation, simply because we are in the grips of a housing crisis we have never seen before.

“There are other issues too, like access to healthcare, the cost of living – but housing is fundamental and we have to get it right.

"For us, having a strong team of councillors in Westmeath is an important piece in the jigsaw of actually getting housing right.”

Deputy McDonald said she “absolutely” has an eye on the extra fifth seat available in the Longford Westmeath constituency for next year’s general election.

“Sorca Clarke has worked really hard and really effectively,” she said. “She has been, certainly from my point of view, one of the big talents that came into the Sinn Féin team in 2020.

“I promoted her to the front bench and she carries the portfolio of education; she is a really strong parliamentarian and public representative.

“We’re looking to develop a team of councillors and then, absolutely, we’ll be looking to take another seat here for sure – but we’re not being presumptuous, we know we have to work for it.”

Deputy McDonald denied her party have changed their stance on immigration in recent months.

“Not just here in Mullingar, but in my own community and all across the state and it seems government have deliberately not engaged with local communities, which we are suffering the consequences of,” she said.

“We are not for open borders; what we want is a fair system that is human rights compliant and respectful.

“In other words, you’re not left in limbo for months and sometimes years, and that when you have people who don’t qualify [for asylum], you have to enforce the rule book. We haven’t changed our stance, we’re about social justice, respect and equality.”

Deputy McDonald adds that “13 years of Fine Gael is too much” and that “people are ready for change” now.