Council in touch with IDA on Quinn building

Meath County Council said this week that it has been in constant touch with the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) about the future use of the Quinn Direct building at Athlumney in Navan. Fianna Fail Cllr Tommy Reilly raised the matter at this week's Meath County Council meeting when he asked Meath County Manager Tom Dowling to provide an update from the economic development department of the council on developments in the case. Mr Dowling said the council was not currently aware of any confirmed proposals for the future use of the building. However, he said the council was in constant touch with the IDA on the matter and the authority had informed the council as of late last week that it, in turn, was in regular contact with the administrators of the Quinn business. "It is their understanding that the sale of the business to Liberty Mutual is still being finalised. They have not yet been notified of any proposals that the new owners have for the building or when the building will be available and on what terms or conditions," he said. He said it was understood that the IDA was seeking to engage directly with Liberty as soon as the takeover was finalised. Cllr Reilly said the council would have to be extremely vigilant and "keep on the case" to ensure that any future possible use of the building for high-level industrial or commercial purposes was not lost to Navan. "There is a building there, new and modern, comprising 70,000 square feet. We lost the Navan Carpets building in Navan, which would have been a huge asset to the town in providing replacement jobs for that industry. We do not want that to happen again," he said. At a meeting of Navan Town Council last week, Cllr Joe Reilly called on the IDA to reveal what progress it has made in securing a new tenant for the Quinn building. The remaining staff of less than 100 are set to be redeployed from the Quinn building at Johnstown later this month to both Blanchardstown and Cavan, leaving the building - built to accommodate up to 700 staff - empty. He said he believed that the IDA now had a wonderful opportunity to promote "this very modern building as a single or multi-purpose unit among those interested in investing in Ireland".