ST LOUIS convent in Monaghan town has been ordered by a judge to close its private nursing home following a health and safety case brought by Monaghan County Council.
At the end of a long-running legal battle, the case was decided against the convent by Judge Sean Martin McBride at Monaghan District Court.
He made no order for costs.
St Louis convent was established in the 1800s in what had been an old manor house in Monaghan town.
However, after various inspections by the chief fire officer for the council, Damien Treanor, the upper floor area, where up to 16 in-patients and some outside staff lived and worked, has been deemed a “serious and immediate fire risk”.
The court was told a lack of efficient fire escapes in the upper parts of the convent was one of the major worries the fire authority had with the building.
Last year, Judge McBride, along with fire officials, visited the convent to see the problems outlined by the fire authority, and eventually agreed that the building was a risk.
“The convent had been a great servant to the town for so many years,” he said.
After discussions as to when the nursing home should close and where the patients would be accommodated, a spokesperson for the HSE North East informed Judge McBride that it should be able to accommodate the 16 in-patients in the area within a matter of weeks.
A small number of full and part-time carers employed at the nursing home will lose their jobs.
The convent has the right of appeal against the closure order to the higher Circuit Court. However, it is thought unlikely it will pursue this course.