South Mayo town set to become a holy grail of future investment

The thorny issue of vacancy and dereliction is not going away for local councillors or for officials of Mayo County Council.

In the midst of a housing emergency, constituents are rightly aggravated by the sight of empty homes on street after street.

It is a daily, visible contradiction: people desperate for housing while habitable buildings in prime locations sit idle.

Grants, it seems, can only assist what already exists and only help those willing to engage.

However, there is a growing interpretation that these same grants have unintentionally benefited land and property hoarders, inflating the value of buildings that had long been considered worthless.

Once upon a time, hovels that local auctioneers could scarcely be begged to take on have suddenly become some of the fastest-moving stock on the market.

Fine Gael Killala-based Councillor Jarlath Munnelly recently succeeded in tabling and passing a motion calling on the government to legislate for compulsory sale orders.

Such a measure would remove a significant burden from local authorities, which are otherwise tasked with the costly and resource-heavy process of compulsory purchase orders.

Councillor Harry Barrett added an amendment to introduce tax breaks for potential buyers.

Against this backdrop, Councillor Peter Flynn, who has long called for a dedicated taskforce to tackle dereliction in Mayo, brought forward a progressive proposal, benchmarked on the approach taken by Limerick County Council, national leaders in addressing the issue.

Independent Councillor Patsy O’Brien cautioned that constant focus on dereliction can create negativity and a perception of talking towns down.

I can see where he is coming from.

However, this issue can no longer be treated as the elephant in the room.

If we are serious about revitalising towns and villages as well as tackling the housing crisis, then vacancy and dereliction must be addressed openly, decisively and consistently, not ignored in the hope it will somehow resolve itself.

Unfortunately for Mayo, there is not a single town that can credibly claim to be free from the scourge. A county-wide approach is the only realistic solution.

The chief executive of Mayo County Council, Kevin Kelly, suggested that €1.4 million would be required to fund compulsory purchase orders and staff a dedicated taskforce.

Funding such an initiative, councillors were told, would require an additional 1.5% on business rates and a further 2% on local property tax.

The response was swift.

Councillor Michael Loftus, in my view rightly, rowed back hard against the proposal, likening it to the tax placed on purchasing new blocks due to the levy by government due to the defective concrete blocks fiasco.

Imagine running a business on a Mayo market street blighted by dereliction. You maintain your shopfront, keep the doors open, and survive everything from recession to Covid to record inflation - only to be told that your rates must rise again to address a problem that not only you did not create, but that your business suffers by witnessing the blight daily.

That is a hard sell.

Mayo County Council sought to reassure members that it is not in the business of revenue-raising, but rather committed to tackling vacancy and dereliction.

One would imagine, however, that the collection of derelict sites' levies would be central to funding any meaningful taskforce. The chief executive’s intervention, whether intended or not, appeared to bring the vacancy and dereliction taskforce proposal to an abrupt end.

Turning north, Sligo councillors have recently had a change of heart regarding the Western Rail Corridor, progressing from bikes to carriages. There is an understandable degree of envy following progress on reopening the Claremorris-to-Athenry line, leaving Yeats County as the missing link.

Now is the time for Mayo councillors to step up their campaign, safe in the knowledge that one major hurdle to the south has already been cleared.

A reopened corridor would allow Mayo to position itself strategically - with Ireland West Airport potentially becoming the first airport in the country connected by rail.

Combined with the proposed strategic development zone, the county could credibly market itself as a leader for regional investment.

Credit where it is due: commendation goes to Sligo independent councillors Noel Bree and Thomas Healy, who tabled motions seeking the reopening of the rail line linking Sligo and Galway.

Councillor Bree highlighted that the only remaining unopened section of the corridor is the 47-mile stretch between Collooney and Claremorris.

Iarnród Éireann has already confirmed that this line is to be preserved for future rail use, as outlined in the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy, with the intention of serving both passengers and freight and connecting directly to Ireland West Airport.

Just over a year ago, Sligo County Council embedded this ambition in its development plan.

Councillor Bree also expertly explained the financial argument which will be of a major benefit to any councillor in this county moving forward. Government tax revenues for 2025 are up by 8.9%, equating to an additional €8.6 billion.

The total cost of reopening the Western Rail Corridor from Claremorris to Sligo (including a 20% contingency) is estimated at €412 million, or roughly €5.5 million per kilometre.

By comparison, a single kilometre of the proposed Dublin Metro is estimated to cost €460 million.

That bears repeating and we will hear it soon on a regular basis from councillors in this county: the cost of one kilometre of the Dublin Metro could fund the reopening of the entire Western Rail Corridor from Galway to Sligo.

Hats off to the Sligo councillors for making the case.

Attention now turns to this county, where engineers are already muttering that the old line is not fit for purpose and a new route would have to be identified from Claremorris to Charlestown.

What is beyond doubt is that Claremorris is poised to become a holy grail for future investment.

Every avenue out of the county and, by the same token back into it, will come through the south Mayo town.