Council accused of ‘dragging its feet’ on Lifford project

Lifford councillor Gerry Crawford has accused Donegal County Council of "dragging its feet" when it came to converting the Prior School building at the town's former army barracks into a  home for the county archive service.

He raised the issue at both council and municipal district levels recently and pointed a financial commitment was already in place to get the work started.

He said the archives service was an ever-increasing important part of the council's service to the public.

"It gathers from the past and protects for the present and the future and that to my mind is unbelievably being done by one person, the archivist, who I could not praise high enough for the dedication and the work that she does."

He said he was concerned however because to his knowledge that service has had no additional staff since 2009.

"It's an ever-expanding and ever-necessary service. We all agreed at municipal district and full council levels that the old Prior School building would become the face of the archive service to the public."

He added the building was particularly suited because of its history and heritage value.

"There was a small financial but important contribution set aside in last and this year's budgets but I'm not happy enough is being done. There was to be a scoping exercise and I know a reply will say such a firm has been hired and so on but we are not there yet.

"This should have been done ages ago and in my opinion, the council is dragging its feet on this issue. There needs to be more serious effort and it's taking far too long to get to where we want to be."

He added: "Give that service the attention it deserves."

At the council meetings, he was told funding was allocated to enable action to identify works required to enable the Prior School County Archive Project to be brought to the standard required to present as the public contact point regarding archive enquiries.

Director of housing, corporate and cultural services, Patsy Lafferty said the Prior School is not only on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) but regarded as a building of regional importance and social and architectural interest.

He said the council has made an application under the Historic Structure Fund for a conservation report and emergency repairs to the building.

"This conservation report relates to the historic building fabric of the former Prior School. The plan has been prepared by Duncan McLaren an Accredited Conservation Architect and provides an overview of the existing condition of the building and makes recommendations and policies for a conservation-led approach to the repair of the building fabric into the future.

He pointed out that the report is a key document when developing an architect brief to develop a proposal further and prepare a cost plan.

"An architect brief is currently being finalised for the project. This brief will ensure compliance with directives in relation to bats currently in the building and create an accessible building for all users within the restrictions of a historic building, making the best use of the existing features and incorporating these into a user-friendly public archive building." 

Mr Lafferty added it is expected that the Request for Quotations will be tendered in the first quarter of 2023, with a view to appointing an architect in the second quarter of 2023. He said Cllr Crawford will be updated on progress.