Department to press ahead with sale of listed site

THE Department of Defence said it will proceed with the sale of Columb Barracks in Mullingar next March despite claims it cannot be sold because it’s a listed building.

Longford-Westmeath TD, Willie Penrose, resigned from the Cabinet and the Labour Party, claiming the 200-year-old building was unsaleable and there would be “no identifiable savings” from closing the 26 acre barracks and moving 170 soldiers to Athlone.

But a spokesperson for the Department said there was nothing to prevent the sale of listed buildings and it was the intention to go ahead with the sale after it is vacated in March 2012.