Planned Offaly visitor centre now set for Westmeath
A major new visitor experience planned for Offaly is set to be relocated to a site in Westmeath.
The Climate House Ireland project initially emerged in 2024 when tenders were sought for design work on the plan which, at that stage, was earmarked for a five-hectare Bord na Móna-owned site on the north-east corner of Ballaghurt bog in Offaly, in the townland of Clonaderig, between Ballinahown, Doon and Clonfinlough.
However, revised plans for the project to be unveiled later this month outline a proposal to relocate the centre to an RTÉ site in Moydrum, on the eastern outskirts of Athlone, where it is now to be combined with a heritage centre focusing on the historic on-site Marconi transmitter.
A public meeting to gather community input on the proposal is planned for Thursday, June 18, in the Douglas Hyde Theatre, TUS Athlone.
When first announced for Ballaghurt Bog near Doon, the Climate House project was described as akin to the Eden Project in Cornwall, and as “a year-round, all season, must-visit destination of international reputation”.
Preliminary plans at that time suggested the new building could span some 3,600 square metres and include an encounter zone or visitor experience, a climate house zone and a multipurpose event space. Major outdoor exhibits were also being proposed as part of the overall project.
A feasibility study at the time estimated it could create the equivalent of 130 full-time jobs, attract 385,000 visitors annually by its third year of operation and have an annual economic impact of €12.3m
Now, however, it is proposed the project will be co-located with a Marconi Heritage Centre at the Moydrum, Athlone, site.
Offaly Fine Gael TD John Clendennen described the news of the loss of the project to Westmeath as "disappointing".
He said there was a lack of clarity around the decision made to relocate the proposal to Westmeath, particularly as there had been a clear identification of a site in Offaly as part of a tender process in 2024 for a design team.
Criticising what he said had been “a vacuum of information” during the process, he said learnings needed to be taken from this, particularly in relation to due diligence work on initial proposals.
He said, when he had heard indications that the project may be lost to Offaly earlier this year, he had engaged with Offaly County Council regarding alternative sites in the county that could be considered but no feasible option was identified.
He went to outline that Offaly was in a good position in a wider sense regarding investment in projects, highlighting in particular work supported by the Just Transition Fund.
However, he said: “I’m disappointed as a public representative at this news.”
The Marconi visitor centre project in Athlone was initially mooted in 2014 as a national broadcasting museum, which would be used to promote interest in STEM subjects.
A local consortium called the Athlone Marconi Centre Heritage Group commissioned a feasibility report on establishing the museum, with a broadcasting and telecommunications theme.
Whilst Fáilte Ireland was keen on the plan and set to provide financial backing, matching funding from the private sector did not materialise and the plan lapsed.
The broadcasting heritage of the former RTÉ transmitter site is considered to be of global significance. It’s thought that the Marconi Transmitter at the site may be the only transmitter of its kind intact and on-site on the location where it was in operation.