The former St Brigid’s Hospital, which at one stage housed 1,300 psychiatric patients, has fallen into such a state of disrepair it is now one of the ugliest buildings in Ballinasloe.
And that has led to Councillors calling on the HSE West to “throw a lick of paint” on the building because it was creating such a bad image for the town.
St Brigid’s shut its doors two years ago as part of the HSE review of mental health services.
Cllr Timmy Broderick told a meeting of Ballinasloe Municipal Council that it was one of the first buildings that visitors to the town – coming from the east of the country – would experience and said that it would not create a great impression.
“It is embarrassing that this is the first sight you see coming into the town. It is creating a terrible impression and it is incumbent on the HSE to clean the building up,” he said.
Cllr Broderick proposed a motion that the HSE be written to in an effort to encourage them to tidy up the site and paint the building. “It’s in a horrific state,” he added.
“The windows are black and some of them are broken. It shows great disrespect for the town and this historic building,” the independent councillor added.
Cllr Aidan Donohue agreed that the building was in a poor state of repair but he had been informed by the HSE that they planned to sell St Brigid’s. He got this confirmation in writing.
“But I haven’t seen any ‘for sale’ signs or any effort on their part to sell the building. It definitely looks in a bad state and the HSE should be obliged to maintain it,” Cllr Donohue added.
Director of Services Catherine McConnell said that the Council could not act as there was no breach of planning involved. She added that the Council, therefore, could not tell the HSE to rectify the situation.
Originally it was known as the Connacht District Lunatic Asylum when it opened back in 1833 and was one of the first institutions of its kind in the country.
In common with the majority of other District Asylums, the Ballinasloe facility was continually overcrowded, housing in November 1900, for example, 1,165 patients in accommodation designed to hold 840.
St Brigid’s became home to a considerable number of its residents down through the years and often they saw out the remainder of their lives there.
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