Statement on the potential sale of Lucan House to South Dublin County Council:
“SDCC has secured agreement in principle for the purchase of Lucan house. This is subject to contract and the normal rigors of conveyancing and is currently very early in the process.”
There’s a long way to go on this matter yet, as per the above holding statement from the Council.
But to put it in context, full credit is due to the outgoing Chief Executive Daniel McLoughlin for showing initiative some years back.
In May 2018, during my term as Mayor, I was contacted by then-Ambassador Serpi (pictured here on the day) who wanted to meet with the Chief Executive, senior officials and I to discuss a number of matters pertaining to Lucan.
Several issues were discussed that morning which I will not go into in detail about, but one thing I did mention before is that the CEO asked for the Council to be notified if the Italians were ever inclined to put Lucan House up for sale.
I’ve been criticised in past for expressing a desire on several occasions that the property would be brought into public ownership, but I’ve always clarified how much we value the relationship with our Italian friends and neighbours and appreciate their ongoing generosity and always acknowledged that any potential sale should be entirely up to them.
I say this as a Lucanian, whose late mother grew up across the road in Hanbury Lane and used to play in these grounds as a child.
So it’s great to hear about this tentative purchase agreement, although It’s early days yet and nothing is finalised, so it would be unwise to speculate right now on the precise nature of any sale, on a timescale, or indeed any potential future use and availability of the property. It’s that big of a deal.
But it is fair comment to say that the people of Lucan would vastly prefer for Lucan House to be in public ownership than end up being purchased privately. Such a sale would be a game-changer for Lucan and I for one await the outcome with much interest and anticipation. Equally I appreciate that nothing more can be said or done at this time.