Progress on local Primary Care Centre project

A site for the long-awaited primary care centre for Ballaghaderreen is set to be selected next month, the Herald has learned.

Suffering numerous delays, the project was first announced more than a decade ago in 2012 by the then government, and it subsequently received planning permission in 2021.

In early 2025, plans for the health facility in the town suffered a massive blow when it emerged that the developer had withdrawn his involvement from the project.

Following this setback, the HSE in December, as part of a review of potential sites, sought expressions of interest for suitable development sites or lands of 1.5 to 3.5 acres in the North Roscommon town.

The HSE said it was interested in lands, both with and without planning permission, easily accessible to Ballaghaderreen Town Centre and local community facilities, and zoned and suitable for the development of a primary care centre.

At a meeting of the HSE West Regional Health Forum last month, Integrated Health Area Manager, Galway Roscommon Ann Cosgrove said that the Ballaghaderreen PCC remained a priority for the HSE. She added that the HSE had received a number of offered sites following an advert in the local media.

She also indicated that the previous process, a public- private partnership, was not going to be repeated for this project. It would likely be a traditional HSE build but this needed to be confirmed, Ms Cosgrove added.

When contacted by this paper, a spokesperson for the HSE said that the evaluation process in respect of site submissions for Ballaghaderreen Primary Care Centre remained ongoing.

“This is expected to conclude by mid-July, following which a determination will be made regarding the most appropriate procurement route and the subsequent stages progressed by the HSE,” the spokesperson said.