Sligo County Council grants permission for 12.8-hectare solar farm at Sligo University Hospital Campus, The Mall, Co. Sligo

In context

It is one of 2 solar farm applications Sligo County Council has received in the past twelve months, against 335 nationally. Of the 573 such applications decided by councils in the past three years, 92% were granted.

What happens next

The applicant, or anyone who made a submission on the application, can appeal the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála within four weeks of 13 October 2025. If no appeal is lodged, the council’s decision stands and a final grant issues.

The development description, as lodged

Verbatim from the Sligo County Council register. This is the source for every figure in the story above.

The installation of approximately 2,300 photovoltaic (PV) panels, each measuring 2,000mm x 1,000mm, resulting in a combined coverage area of approximately 4,600 m² across the roofs of existing buildings within the hospital campus, including the Protected Structure (Block A), the recently completed Specialist Mental Health Unit (SMHU) and the Northwest Hospice under construction. The site includes a 1940’s institutional building (identified as Block A in the application) of regional significance listed under the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH Reg. No. 32008001). The proposed development is located both at and within the curtilage of this Protected Structure.