Council issues statement on Mayo official's call for 'boycott' of holiday home owners

Mayo County Council has issued a statement in respect of a report that a senior official of the authority had called for a boycott of holiday home owners in the county.

The statement outlined: “At a meeting of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) of Mayo County Council last week, the members of the SPC requested the executive of the council look to explore innovative ways to deal with the issue of activating vacant homes for use.

"As part of this work, Director of Services Tom Gilligan circulated a proposal in relation to one aspect of the issue for consideration and discussion to the membership of the SPC.

“These proposals were not intended for publication but were exclusively intended as an internal discussion document for the members in response to the SPC’s request for a potential policy around holiday homes.

"At this point, we are not aware how this email found its way to the media.

“Mayo County Council wishes to state clearly that no policy has been formulated, discussed or adopted by the council, and this correspondence as circulated to the members of the SPC does not reflect the official position of Mayo County Council in any way."