Big step taken in multi-million euro overhaul Laois Offaly Garda HQ in Portlaoise

A major step has been taken in the long-promised multi-million overhaul and expansion of the Laois Offaly Garda headquarters in Portlaoise.

The Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Patrick O’Donovan, has announced that Portlaoise Garda Divisional HQ would go to tender on Thursday, December 21.

A brief statement from the OPW was issued confirming the details on December 21.

"This is the third tendered element of the project. The conservation works to the Fort are completed. The replacement Defence Forces building are due to be finished in March in time to allow the Army to move and for OPW to commence the main Garda divisional HQ project. There are additional ancillary works required to facilitate the overall project," it said.

Confirmation that builders are to be sought is the latest stage in a long-running process that has featured several false starts.

The project has been listed in two National Development Plans for investment of taxpayers' money.  Details plans have been drawn up for the project during the lifetime of the plan which expired in 2021 but the money needed never materialised.

The project also hit a stumbling block because the Defence Forces turned down a relocation to a new building on the Mountrath Road. Soldiers used the a building at the back of the Garda Station as a transit base before going on duty at Portlaoise Prison.

This hitch was overcome when a site near the Irish Prison Service Training College on the town's Dublin Road was found. This is now nearing completion.

Another obstacle was the merging of the Laois and Offaly Garda Division with Kildare. This caused designers to draw up plans for a bigger building. Ultimately the merger was abandoned in 2023.

Under the finalised plans, the old building will be refurbished with and a new linked building constructed in the place of the building being used by the Defence Forces.

It's a year since the OPW updated Leinster Express / Laois Live as to the status of the project. It said the following developments are required;

• refurbishment of the existing building,
• A 2 and 3 storey extension and a new significant building on the rear site

"The construction of a building at the rear of the existing premises is integral to the effective redevelopment of Portlaoise Garda station to meet Garda requirements and has increased the total size of accommodation to be provided by 30%," it said.

The statement said the OPW added that the delivery of the new Defence Force building would not delay the placing of the main contract works.

The OPW had previously said the project would take three years to complete. The limestone former military barracks was built around the start of the 19th century. 

Former Laois Offaly Garda Superintendent John Scanlan had campaigned for the station's overhaul for nearly a decade. When he was serving he said the project would be a big enconomic and jobs boost for Laois and Portlaoise.