A Mayo town's shameful housing shortage

by Auld Stock

THE hard-hitting comments by Peter Flynn and Christy Hyland at a meeting of Westport/Belmullet Municipal District made for sad reading.

Both councillors were referring to the housing crisis in Westport and the difficulty being experienced by young couples in their attempts to put a roof over their heads.

Westport has expanded greatly in recent years but the building of houses has failed to keep pace with that expansion.

The situation appears to be much the same in Castlebar.

A housing scheme earmarked for Lios na Circa fell through for a number of reasons and the tendering process must now be readvertised.

In former years local councils were allocated monies for the building of houses and by and large this meant there was a reasonable supply of houses regularly available for young people.

In recent years the building of houses has been left to the private sector, not the most ideal of situations.

I recently met a young man, with a wife and child, who works in Castlebar but lives ten miles from the town.

His ambition is to live in Castlebar but despite his best efforts, he is unable to get accommodation in the county capital.

This is a sad state of affairs and despite best efforts of local councillors, they find themselves in an impossible situation when it comes to the provision of housing.

It is now time for central government to step in and sort out the housing crisis.

They owe this to the young people of our country.

The sooner this takes place the better.

Speed is of the essence in this urgent matter.