Galway City Council has ordered the HSE to restrict access to the rear entrance of Merlin Park Hospital following ongoing complaints about ‘rat running’.

Residents of Merlin Park Lane – which leads to Doughiska Road – have been complaining to the City Council for years about the issue, voicing concerns about speeds and noise from cars and Heavy Goods Vehicles idling in the mornings, waiting for the back gate to open.

They also accused the HSE of cancelling meetings which were arranged to discuss the problem.

Two years ago, when the HSE was granted permission for a new Community Nursing Unit towards the rear of the hospital campus, the Council stipulated that a proposal to restrict rat running must be agreed with the local authority and must be in place prior to the opening of the Community Nursing Unit.

In a submission on the planning application approved this week for a new surgical hub, residents of Merlin Park Lane said they were not against the delivery of much-needed facilities for the greater community, but felt their concerns in relation to traffic were not being addressed. It is now a stipulation of planning that measures be put in place to stop rat running before the new surgical hub becomes operational.

Residents noted that two previous planning permissions – for units currently under construction on the campus – had conditions attached that a barrier system be put in place at that entrance to prevent rat-running. They asked that the barrier be put in place prior to construction of the surgical hub and that campus employees only have access, with deliveries and Park and Ride employees being routed through the main entrance.

They told the Council of “high speed” traffic using the back entrance and claimed that attempts to discuss the issue with management had been “ignored”.

Photo: The gate at the rear entrance to Merlin Park Hospital.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article and for more on the new surgicval hub, see the August 18 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.