Residents and business owners in Dublin 4 have objected to a primary care centre planned by the HSE over concerns it may be a “massive drug and sexual treatment centre”.
Plans submitted to Dublin City Council detail a primary care centre ranging in height from three to six storeys on part of the site of the former Baggot Street hospital, with objectors describing the project as “over the top” and inconsistent with the local area.
The centre would be developed at the junction of Haddington Road and Eastmoreland Lane, while the remainder of the complex is set to be sold on the open market as no State agency wanted to take it over.
Other objectors lamented how the HSE has “failed” to maintain the former Baggot Street hospital, a protected structure described as “the most prominent structure in the Upper Baggot Street area.”
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A central and consistent complaint was borne from the belief the development might provide addiction and sexually-transmitted-infection (STI) treatment services.
Writing to Dublin City Council last month on behalf of the Pembroke Road Association, Susan McCarrick said the “ambiguity” surrounding service provision raises alarm about the potential introduction of services “fundamentally unsuited” to the location.
A particular concern for the association, which represents a “substantial” cohort of residents, property owners and civic stakeholders, is the possible provision of addiction-related services.
Although services such as methadone maintenance treatment, needle exchange programmes and detoxification support are “essential,” Ms McCarrick said they would be “entirely inappropriate” due to the planned centre’s proximity to schools, childcare and “pedestrian-heavy streetscapes”.
[ Former Baggot Street hospital building to be sold on the open marketOpens in new window ]
She said such services must be situated in locations that are “purpose-designed, contextually appropriate and buffered from vulnerable populations.”
Oonagh O’Hagan, owner and managing director of Meaghers Pharmacy Group which has a pharmacy on Baggot Street, said traders have experienced shoplifting, open drug dealing and loitering in the past when a methadone clinic operated there previously.
“We have serious worries about the safety of our store and our team,” she said, adding that staff previously faced “threats with weapons, including syringes, knives and even guns”.
“I am not for a moment alleging that the service users are to blame for these issues, however it is unfortunate that these facilities attract those who wish to exploit those service users by dealing drugs, targeting them for antisocial behaviour,” she said.
Noting that tourists frequent the area, Ms O’Hagan said the development could tarnish its reputation, “as well as that of the capital city and Ireland as a whole.”
Haddington Road residents Noah Dixon and Michelle Morrisroe claimed the planning application was being portrayed as a primary care centre for locals “but it will be a massive drug and sexual treatment centre for a greater part of the Dublin southeast area”.
Bryan Kearney, another resident of Haddington Road, wrote that a drug treatment centre and STI clinic would “destroy the whole neighbourhood.”
Noting the concerns raised over the centre’s final use, the planning department said this falls under the remit of the HSE and granted permission saying it would provide a “valuable service.”
It set out several conditions including the removal of one of the floors.
It also criticised the HSE over its delay in disposing of the former Baggot Street hospital, saying such a delay in refurbishing the protected structure would have had a “detrimental impact on the very fabric that is to be protected”.
Asked about the objections, a spokeswoman for the HSE said it is “currently working to decide which services will be located in the new centre.”
Those currently under consideration, she said, include GP services, public health nurses, social work and child protection services, child health, services for older people, and physiotherapy.
