Legacy of Louth’s ‘ghost estates’ may still take another ten years to fix

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

Dundalk was “disproportionately affected” by the legacy of unfinished estates after the Celtic Tiger era, according to a Louth councillor.

Unfinished or so-called “ghost estates” emerged largely as result of the economic crash in 2008, with work on a significant number of developments not complete.

A total of 65 estates across Louth were designated in 2011 as “unfinished”, but the fall out from the property crash remains a problem to this day.

Speaking at Louth County Council’s Budget 2026 meeting, Cllr. Marianne Butler welcomed plans for further investment in ‘Taking in Charge’ estates.

“There is significant investment in this, nearly €200,000. It is very welcomed as it is still a huge area of concern.”

Cllr. Butler said: “Dundalk is disproportionately affected by the legacy of unfinished estates compared to Drogheda and Ardee municipal districts.”

“It is something that we need to be chipping away at constantly, it is not far off €200k and that is significant."

The Budget document reveals 75 ‘Taking in Charge’ applications are being processed by Louth County Council. This means that the local authority assumes liability and responsibility for the roads, footpaths and public areas associated with a housing development.

Of the 75 applications, the council are actively working with 26 developers to ensure their work programmes meet the standards for Taking in Charge.

It also emerged that there are four unfinished developments with no developer, but with a bond held by Louth County Council. In these cases the work can then be completed to meet Taking in Charge standards.

But the meeting heard there are 45 unfinished developments in Louth where no bond is available and no application for ‘Taking in Charge’ has been made.

Councillors heard these are “unfunded and require a budget,” and have been ranked in order of priority to comply with both legislation and the OPR’s recommendation.

Cllr. Butler said it was important that people living in these estates “are told that yes this is something we are going to deal with, and that extra money will be allocated in 2026, and hopefully in 2027 and 2028, and we continue with that level of funding.”

She said clarity was needed around the order of priority for these estates, and asked for this to be shared with councillors.

Deputy Chief Executive Thomas McEvoy said there was an increase in funding, which recognises the number of estates remaining unfinished.

He said the council were attempting to address the legacy of these estates “bit by bit” each year in the budget. But it would likely involve a ten year plan.

In terms of the 45 estates throughout the county where there is no developer on site and no bonds to draw from, he added that the council are relying on the supplementary budget which was provided in 2023.

“That has proven impactful as we have managed to close out seven or eight developments,” said Mr. McEvoy.

It is proposed to prioritise another five or six in the coming year.

He added that caution was needed “in managing expectations as there is a huge amount of work in it.”