BREAKING: Kildare County Council lodges plans for dozens of apartments on site of former convent

Kildare County Council has lodged plans to convert the former Sisters of Mercy convent on New Street in Rathangan into apartments.

The promoters of the 24 apartment project are Sophia, an approved housing body which provides homes for people who have experienced homelessness.

The project has an estimated construction value of €2.6m, according to the Construction Information Ireland database. 

St John's Convent, which was home to the Sisters of Mercy until they departed the town in 2017, has been vacant since then.

Sophia is one of the largest providers of supported housing in Limerick and in Cork it recently opened a number of new homes. It also provides supported housing in Clare, Kilkenny, Laois, Cork, and Sligo.

A part 8 planning application for the project was submitted by Kildare County Council on Thursday. 

Being planned is the demolition of the former Convent and an external store.

The plans include the construction of 24 residential units of one-bedroom two-bedroom sizes in two blocks of 2-storey height.

Also in the designs is a Community Room,  32  car-parking spaces and six visitor spaces.

There will also be 37 long-stay secure bicycle parking spaces and 12 short-stay bicycle parking spaces.

A Public open space and a communal open space are also proposed. 

A new site entrance, access road, footpaths and public lighting are included in the proposals.