Fate of Market House in the hands of council

‘What will become of Market House?’ was the question to the forefront of councillors’ minds this week as they attended the last ever meeting of Mullingar Town Council in the historic building on Tuesday. The fate of Market House now lies in the hands of Westmeath County Council, which recently made the final payment on a loan of €13,885 which had been taken out to refurbish the building. While there is still one tenant in the building, the Mullingar Tourist Office, the Citizens Information service recently moved to another location. Cllr Mick Dollard said the building was in a “prime location”; however, it was at a disadvantage due to the lack of disability access to upstairs. He asked that a costing be carried out on installing a lift to the first floor. The council’s head of finance Jimmy Dalton said he is committed to maintaining the building, which he said offered “prime office space” on the ground floor. “It is not only in a prime location; it is a beautiful building. As late as today we were discussing the possible future use of the building. It needs to be teased out and we will come back to the members of Westmeath County Council on it,” he said.