THE Department of Defence has agreed to put up extra fencing around a former army barracks it can no longer guard.

Magee Barracks in Kildare, which has in recent months been the scene of a mass brawl, a series of arson incidents and near-nightly anti-social behaviour, has been abandoned for more than seven years.

For several years, it was used to house asylum seekers but has been lying completely idle since 2003 after plans to build affordable homes on the site collapsed.

The government has now issued a call for anyone interested in buying the 60-acre site to contact it, "subject to reasonable offers".

A statement from the Department of Defence said that it had originally agreed to transfer the land to Kildare County Council in July, 2003. However, as it finalised plans to transfer ownership to the council in 2009, the local authority said it no longer wanted the land.

The department said: "As a result of this, [we] arranged for security fencing to be erected to prevent the occurrence of anti-social behaviour.

"Security fencing has been erected and additional fencing will be installed in the next few weeks to ensure the security of the site."

The department said it was fully aware of the anti-social behaviour at the site, including a number of arson attacks.

On one evening, residents of a nearby housing estate were forced to leave their homes after a building on the barracks was set ablaze.