OVER 400 local residents took to the streets of their village last week as part of the ‘Save the Clondalkin Convent Campaign’.
The locals who gathered for the protest are voicing their opposition to a proposed multi-storey nursing home in the heart of their area.
The campaign has come together in recent months to object to plans by the Presentation Sisters to develop the 155-bedroom nursing home with developers Bartra on green space surrounding the 162-year-old convent.
The proposed new development is currently with An Bord Pleanála after appeals to the planning permission granted by South Dublin County Council.
The council granted planning permission last May to Bartra Property Ltd to build the nursing home on the historical Presentation Convent site on Convent Road in Clondalkin.
However, the council received numerous submissions from various local groups and individuals citing objections in relation to the size and scale of the development, among other concerns.
An appeal was then lodged with An Bord Pleanála.
Locals say opposition to the project is based on fears of the negative impact on the old village of Clondalkin.
Locals also expressed concerns with the aesthetics of the proposed new build, which they claim will contrast negatively with what they describe as the beautiful surroundings of the convent and the adjoining Church of the Immaculate Conception.
Speaking on behalf of the local campaign group, spokespeople Eddie Murphy and Monica McGill, said: “Clondalkin is a beautiful old village that is attracting more and more visitors, thanks to the development of Brú Chrónáin around our ancient Round Tower.
“The campaign we are involved in is based on us taking a stand to save as much of the old village as we can and voice our opposition to plans that will dwarf what is part of our heritage.
“We respect the needs of the local Presentation Sisters to develop facilities for the more senior members of their order but we do not accept that another nursing home of this size is needed in the heart of what is already a busy, built up and at times, clogged-up village.
“This is a valued green area, used by local primary schools and the new proposed development is out of scale and out of taste with the surrounding buildings.
They added: “There is also a colony of swifts and bats whose habitats would be obliterated if the building works go ahead.”
“The nuns have been valued members of our community for a century and a half and and they have received the full support of the local community over that time.”
There was no reply to a request for a comment from the Presentation Sisters at time of going to press.
