Food company Greencore has said remediation works are still ongoing on the site of the former Carlow sugar factory, 20 years after the plant closed.
In a statement, it said once the works are complete, it will then consider future options for the land, including a sale of the site.
It comes as local politicians call on the company to outline what it plans to do with the land.
The plant, which first opened in 1926, operated for 80 years before it closed in 2005.
Most of the traces of its past have been demolished, but the lime kiln remains in place.
People Before Profit councillor Adrienne Wallace is one of those seeking clarity.
“This is an iconic and unique site for Carlow,” she said.
“It really captures the rich history we have here … It encompasses and holds a lot of value for a lot of people here in Carlow, so it’s frustrating that 20 years on, we’ve seen little development. It has a huge amount of potential.”
At one stage, there had been talk of a new business park on the site, and 3,000 homes, but none of that materialised.
“I don’t see why they can’t do something down here in terms of residential,” said Cllr Wallace.
“In terms of playgrounds, heritage site, there’s so much potential here, and yet it’s just been left to rot in the hands of Greencore. We really want to get behind this site and really bring it back to some sort of use for Carlow,” she said.
In a statement, Greencore said the lands are subject to a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency, and that ongoing remediations works are taking place in accordance with that.
It said that “It is not possible to say for certain how long it will take to complete these works”, and that it was aiming to finish them “as soon as possible”, adding that there is no toxic waste on the site.
It said it will then consider future options for the land, including a sale of the site.
It added, however, that Greencore also owns other ex-Irish Sugar properties in the area, which are advertised for sale but that these properties have to date attracted limited interest from buyers due to planning constraints.
The company also said the lime kiln, which is listed as a protected structure by the council, is in a state of disrepair, is potentially unsafe and “cannot be touched”.
It said that impacts the “potential future options for the site”.
The EPA said while production has ceased and the plant has been demolished, the company has not to date applied for surrender of the licence.
In a statement, the agency also said all hazardous waste identified has been removed and the company continues to carry out groundwater and surface water monitoring.
Greencore has said it is in the process of seeking to remove the EPA licence from areas of the site.
“I’m curious to what they are cleaning up,” said Cllr Wallace.
“The EPA have said that there’s no toxic waste on the site anymore … a lot more detail needs to be given on exactly what they’re clearing out how they’re clearing it up, and how long that is going to take,” she said.
The sugar factory was once described as the ‘beating heart of Carlow town’, and its closure after 80 years was a blow for the area.
Local historian Christopher Power recently published a book on the history of the plant and the impact it had.
“Its heyday started immediately, it can’t be overemphasised. It was an extraordinary concept in the new Ireland after the civil war, to create an industry from scratch in basically a bankrupt country,” he said.
“There was a great deal of anger and a terrible shock at the time when it went… I would say it probably had the most profound effect in the long term on farmers, because obviously the demand for sugar beet as a crop was gone to a great degree,” he added.
“I suppose things have moved on… people who worked there… time has marched on and quite a few have gone.
“There certainly are generations now have not heard of it, and Carlow would have profoundly changed as well in in those 20 years… but certainly it is one of the main things people associate Carlow with still.”
He also spoke of the positive legacy the plant left behind.
“It had a really tremendous effect on a whole lot of different industries, and a lot of the spin off industries that were created are still here.
“For example, Carlow RTC really is a direct result of the factory.”
Christopher Power said the smell of sugar that used to hang over the town is now well gone.
The land on which it stood though remains.
Locals in the area seemingly want activity returned.
“It has great history in Carlow, so just to see something being developed on it would be good for the town,” one woman said.
“If they could build a housing estate on it for the needy and the homeless, and don’t leave it lying idle, derelict… utilise it,” said another resident.
A meeting between the company and the council is due to take place next month.
