Some properties in Skibbereen lying derelict for 40 years

PROPERTIES in town in Skibbereen are lying idle for up to 40 years despite Ireland’s housing crisis, a local election candidate has said.

Labour local election candidate Evie Nevin was addressing  vacancy and dereliction in West Cork. The Skibbereen Clonakilty election candidate said at least one property in Skibbereen is lying empty for up to 40 years. She also highlighted a house which has been abandoned for 15 years, and even bears a notice from Cork County Council urging the owner to make contact. ‘Locals are well aware of the property owners, raising questions about why it has taken so long to address these issues,’ said Ms Nevin.

The Labour election candidate said even Council houses have been vacant for years and she questioned the lack of a publicly-available vacancy and dereliction register. ‘While other councils across the country, including Cork City and other municipal districts, provide access to such registers, the West Cork Municipal District (MD) executive cited GDPR restrictions as the reason for withholding this information,’ she said.

Labour leader and housing spokesperson Ivana Bacik made a parliamentary communication to the Department of Housing on Nevin’s behalf. The Department said there is no legislative requirement for local authorities to provide information on the vacancy and dereliction levy implementation within specific municipal district areas.

Nevertheless, Ms Nevin said vacancy and dereliction consistently rank among the top five issues raised by constituents with her on the campaign trail. ‘Revitalising vacant houses will alleviate the housing crisis and also help resolve water supply issues caused by increased new construction. These homes are already connected to existing infrastructure, making this effort aligned with climate action also,’ she said.

Meanwhile, an Ireland South European MEP has said that local authorities need to be provided with ‘swat’ teams to tackle derelict housing and speed up compulsory purchase orders, an Ireland South European MEP said.

Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher said property owners leaving buildings becoming derelict are engaging in ‘societal vandalism’, and said local authorities now need help putting them in order. He called for a dedicated ‘derelict housing swat team’, a reference to the special police tactical teams used in the US, to speed up the process of purchasing houses and buildings left derelict by ‘absentee or disinterested property owners’.

Mr Kelleher, who was on the campaign trail in West Cork this week,  acknowledged that while housing ‘isn’t a competence of the EU’, he was struck on the campaign trail by the number of properties in towns, villages and in the country that remain derelict or vacant.

‘Property owners who consistently allow their buildings to become derelict are engaging in societal vandalism,’ he said. ‘Our local authorities need the resources, funding and expertise needed to actively CPO derelict properties that are not being put onto the market by owners.

‘The carrot is being offered by the government but it’s really time for the stick now. These swat teams would have the legal, engineering, planning and administrative expertise to follow the process.’