Offaly's councillors demand no more delay on Midlands Hospice
‘Cllr Liam Quinn praised the engineers for coming up with a good solution to the Arden Lane problem’
THE majority of the councillors of Offaly County Council made a strong call for the end of the delay over the proposed construction of a Midlands Hospice during their October meeting on Monday.
The Council will upgrade Arden Lane, Tullamore, the meeting was told, before the construction of the Hospice.
The Midlands is the only region without a Hospice and most people are very keen that it is constructed as quickly as possible.
However there are some who object. One of these is Cllr Fergus McDonnell who told the meeting that in his view Arden Lane is the wrong location and he will never agree to it.
Another against it is Tom Martin who, in a letter addressed to the Council, pointed out that he was writing “as a Trustee Of Tullamore Pitch & putt Club and a registered co-owner of Folio OY1818F and associated lands affected by the proposal.”
Mr Martin pointed out that in spite of “the seriousness of the issues raised in my previous correspondence, I have received no substantive response from Offaly County Council to date. My correspondence has consistently identified fundamental concerns regarding road and pedestrian safety, access and egress, agricultural traffic, the proposed road configuration, Club parking, affected landownership, boundary treatments, golf-ball safety and the continued viability Of Tullamore Pitch & putt Club.”
Paul McLoughlin, Director of Services, pointed out that the proposed Road Upgrade and Infrastructural Works to Arden Lane will take place before the Hospice is built and will improve the road sufficiently to deal with the problems raised in Mr Martin's letter.
Councillors unanimously agreed to proceed with improving Arden Lane to make it suitable for the proposed hospice.
Cllr Shane Murray welcomed the news. “I am delighted to see this happening,” he remarked. “We can't let anything stop the Hospice from being built. It is too important.”
Cllr Liam Quinn praised the engineers for “coming up with a good solution to the Arden Lane problem. Now we need to get on with it. Enough time has been spent talking. We now need to get it built.”
Cllr Neil Feighery said he was also delighted to see the project advancing. He said the road improvement works will be significant. He added that there has been a lot of discussion with local residents. “The Midlands region badly needs this facility to be built as soon as possible,” he remarked.
Cllr Aoife Masterson agreed. “We cannot afford to have any more delays with this project. The vast majority of the general public is behind this project. I fully support this and I look forward to seeing the building work start.”
Cllr Fergus McDonnell said he couldn't support the location of the Hospice. “It is in the wrong place.”
Cllr Seán O'Brien said he is “100% behind this location and this Hospice. In fact I think the Council should be commended for the efficiency that we have shown in this whole process.”
The proposed Midlands Regional Hospice is a planned 20-bed specialist palliative care unit to be built on Arden Lane in Tullamore serving patients across Laois, Offaly, Longford, and Westmeath. Planning permission was granted by An Coimisiún Pleanála in June 2026 following the resolution of local planning appeals. The government has committed capital funding, though it was reported earlier this month that there is an ongoing €12 million funding shortfall for the total project cost. The 20-bed Level 3 specialist inpatient unit will include a day therapy unit, an education centre, and modern parking with EV charging facilities. In September, an alliance of five independent regional hospice groups (Laois Hospice, SAVE for Longford Hospice, North Westmeath Hospice, Offaly Hospice, and South Westmeath Hospice) strengthened their collaboration to support the project and local home-based palliative services.