The clock is ticking on Mayo's housing crisis as frustration abounds

Mayo County Council's housing strategic policy committee is making moves in more ways than one.

But there is a palpable sense of urgency emanating from elected representatives that reflects both the struggles of their constituents and the worsening housing woes experienced by people across the county.

A plan to deliver a number of serviced sites in the village of Mayo Abbey received a lukewarm response from the urban-based councillors sitting on the SPC.

Michael Kilcoyne, Harry Barrett and committee chair Peter Flynn almost pounded the table in exasperation - informing the incumbent housing director that four or five sites will not be enough to meet demand.

They wanted multitudes - and in their respective towns to boot.

That, they argued, is where the pressure is greatest.

An affordable housing survey completed by over 100 respondents appeared to bear this out, though it was notable that the survey contained no option for people living outside the county's major towns of Castlebar, Ballina, Westport and Claremorris.

Affordable housing is for the domain of the urban dweller.

Fianna Fáil's John Caulfield offered a timely counterpoint. Hailing from a small village in the east of the county, Kilkelly, he knows first-hand the importance of investment in rural locations.

Referencing the Mayo Abbey proposal, Councillor Caulfield put it simply: "That could mean 10 people into the community, keep the local school open and field a team for the local club."

It is a point that has been consistently and frustratingly omitted from housing discussions at local level.

Concentrating large-scale projects in towns during a housing crisis is welcome and necessary, but it should not come at the expense of rural towns and smaller villages.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander - this is a countywide issue.

The problem may well be more acute in urban centres, but private developers will always find an incentive to build in major towns. It is in the villages and rural hinterlands where the local authority must step up.

Mayo County Council should take a leaf out of Offaly's book and invite the GAA in to address the SPC directly on the devastating impact rural decline is having on communities.

Offaly County Council heard a stark presentation at a recent monthly meeting from Dr. Peter Horgan, strategy, innovation and insights manager at the GAA, and Benny Hurl, chair of the national GAA demographics committee.

Hurl told councillors that in 2025 the GAA decided to shout "Stop!" to the decline in rural areas.

"We have a huge imbalance right across the country. It's not just in Offaly," he said.

"Rural is being decimated. Many small communities such as the villages of Offaly are losing out."

He attributed the cause to misguided government policy driving people toward larger towns and cities.

"Sixty years ago, two out of three of Ireland's citizens were living in rural Ireland. Now it is only 30%. We believe the solutions are there to turn this around. We have to find ways to get over this."

From where I sit, our councillors risk replicating failed national policy by focusing almost exclusively on towns.

The irony is that a broader shift is already underway nationally - there has been a meaningful pushback on the rigid rules around one-off rural housing, a significant volte-face after a lost decade of enforced compact development.

Yet at SPC level, the conversation remains stubbornly town-centric.

Councils must redirect energy toward rural regeneration or we will simply replicate, at county level, the same rush to the towns that has taken place nationally.

More clubs will amalgamate. Super clubs will emerge in our urban centres, straining under the pressure of numbers, while villages hollow out.

More national schools will close on our rural periphery. More post offices will shutter. Communities will continue to unravel quietly, away from the cameras and the headlines.

It could well be time for Mayo's GAA representatives to demand action - loudly and formally - in this regard.

The organisation has the data, the reach and the moral authority to make the case in a way that cuts through.

As with so many facets of the housing crisis, there is no silver bullet.

That is a deeply frustrating fact of Irish political life.

But the urgency radiating from our councillors tells its own story.

They are now at the halfway point of their tenure and the phone calls from constituents have only grown more desperate.

The clock is ticking - for them and for rural Mayo.