Mayo County Council criticised over failure to respond to RTÉ investigation into ghost estates
Mayo County Council failed to issue a timely response to an RTÉ request for information relating to ghost estates in the county.
RTÉ contacted all 31 local authorities as part of an investigation that found there are 58 ghost estates, unfinished housing developments, across Ireland, nearly 20 years after the financial crash.
However, the true number may be higher, as Mayo, along with three other counties, did not respond to the request for information.
The issue was raised by Cllr Michael Kilcoyne at the latest meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, where he voiced his confusion at the council’s lack of engagement.
“Does Mayo County Council not know about the 77 units on the Ballinrobe Road?” he asked, adding that he himself has raised the ghost estate on many occasions while looking for more information on it.
Cllr Kilcoyne questioned who within the council received the request and why it was not answered. He also asked whether the council had enough staff in order to deal with such queries.
He added that the lack of a response “gives the wrong attitude” and said the information is public.
As a consequence, he warned that failing to engage with the request will make it “come across as if there is simply no problem” regarding ghost estates in Mayo.
The estate in question, located at Saleen on the Ballinrobe Road, has been lying vacant for around 15 years and is home to 77 housing units.
The site has been raised repeatedly by councillors in the Castlebar Municipal District, most recently by Cllr Harry Barrett, who branded the Celtic Tiger-era ghost estate as the “Taj Mahal” of dereliction.
The units are falling into dereliction, despite some having been close to completion. Cllr Kilcoyne said that buyers had even paid deposits for some properties during the construction phase, but ultimately did not receive either their homes or their money back.
The Irish Independent contacted Mayo County Council and put Cllr Kilcoyne’s queries to its communications department.
In response, the council confirmed that it did not reply to RTÉ within the specified timeframe regarding queries on ghost estates, stating this was “due to the timelines involved and the availability of the specific information requested at that time”.
The council added that it is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders in relation to the site, but noted that it is a “site with complex and challenging circumstances”.
“We are continuing to engage with all parties involved to progress matters and to endeavour to bring a resolution to this longstanding legacy unfinished estate, at the earliest possible opportunity,” a spokesperson said.
The questions posed by RTÉ to local authorities were for a Radio 1 This Week programme, which was aired earlier this month.
Based on responses from 27 local authorities, the programme found that Donegal had the highest number of ghost estates, with 12, followed by Tipperary with 10 and Leitrim with 7. It also confirmed that 12 local authorities reported no ghost estates.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.