'It is not acceptable': Cork City Council criticised for leaving derelict buildings empty for years
Reports on the future of four high-profile derelict buildings which have come to highlight the blight of dereliction in Cork City are still being prepared four years after they were acquired by the State.
The city council was also criticised for acquiring some buildings several years ago and doing nothing with them, while officials confirmed they were engaging with the owners of several prominent and vacant retail sites with a view to securing redevelopment.
The issues were debated after Cllr Niamh O'Connor asked for an update on the buildings at 62 to 65 North Main Street, which were declared derelict in 2015, and suffered a partial collapse in 2019, forcing the city to step in and stabilise them, before it acquired them by compulsory purchase order (CPO) in 2022.
Legal complications linked to maps and title arose later, delaying the post-CPO process.
Ms O'Connor was told the council was now progressing 'viability assessments' of several options to redevelop the properties.
'On conclusion of the viability assessment process, it is envisaged a formal development proposal will be advanced for planning permission and ultimately commencement of redevelopment,' she was told.
She welcomed the update but asked for a timeline.
Niall O'Donnabháin, the council's director of services for planning and integrated development, said: 'It needs to move forward quickly.'
Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill criticised the council for acquiring certain buildings and doing nothing with them.
He said he knew of one house in his ward which was bought by the council 12 months ago, and remained unused.
'Another one, seven years, bought and paid for, but unused,' he said.
'On one hand, we have a council being praised, and fair enough, praise when praise is due, but on another hand we have a ream of properties we do nothing to for years.
It is not acceptable to have properties bought by the council and left empty. It's appalling.
Council chief executive Valerie O'Sullivan said she shared Mr Cahill's frustration about properties acquired in the past and not returned to use, and she said her new management team had been tasked with getting to grips with this issue, to identify a use for them, and many could come before council soon for statutory disposal.
Separately, Labour councillor John Maher asked for an update on several vacant retail sites, including the former Roches Stores, Debenhams building, the Savoy shopping centre, the old Argos building and North Main Street shopping centre.
Officials said they were inspected periodically, continuously monitored and subject to active engagement with the property owners to encourage and support the return to use of properties.
Mr Maher was also told the old Grand Parade Hotel is owned by the council and forms part of the block which incorporates the city library.
'Plans are being developed to consider development options for this important city centre block in the context of the council's wider ambitions for the regeneration of the area,' officials said.
Mr Maher was also told the site at 4-5 Father Matthew Quay was subject of ongoing engagement between the council and the property owner, which could see it returned to use as a commercial premises in the short term, while the council was also engaging with the owners of the former Maher's Sport premises at 7-8 Parnell Place to help realise its redevelopment as quickly as possible.
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
This is a housing strategy written by Flann O'Brien
When they were introduced in 2016, rent pressure zones (RPZs) represented a courageous move by Simon Coveney and Fine Gael , a party that prefers to let the market determine what happens in housing . The first generation of RPZs limited rent increases to 4 per cent annually in 21 locations. These increases were subsequently reduced to a maximum of 2 per cent annually. RPZs now encompass 83 per cent of all tenancies. Owners of properties in a RPZ being rented for the first time, or after two years' vacancy, can set a market rent but are then restricted to the percentage limit. Outside RPZs, rents can be set every two years to the market rate. Have they worked? Although too often ignored, the rules have mostly been successful, maintaining some affordability and keeping people housed. Have they reduced the supply of new properties for rent? Anti-rent regulation proponents are convinced they have. But although apartment development has slowed down, there is no concrete evidence this is due to rent controls. Similar trends of funds leaving the rental sector have been observed in other countries where there are fewer rent controls, so it's plausible that different factors have convinced investors to punt their cash elsewhere. Ignoring recommendations of the Housing Commission, the Government is now to keep the 2 per cent rent increase maximum for existing tenants, which is welcome. For new-build rental housing, increases will be linked annually to consumer price inflation. After March 1st, 2026, landlords of new ' tenancy arrangements ' will be allowed reset the rent to market rates at the end of every six-year tenancy. The entire country will now be an RPZ, effectively negating the concept. READ MORE Conor Pope takes a closer look at the newly announced rent reforms. Video: Dan Dennison These changes are linked to increased security of tenure from March 2026, which will mean landlords with more than three properties cannot evict a tenant except in limited circumstances, and smaller landlords can evict at any time due to some 'particular hardship' (examples given in the Government's press release include somebody facing bankruptcy, marriage breakdown or homelessness, but the concept is almost certainly open to abuse); for use by an immediate family member; and for sale at the end of a six-year tenancy. There are several likely impacts of the Government's plans. The first is that there will be multiple categories of renters: those with an existing pre-June 2022 tenancy who are currently vulnerable to being legally evicted for any reason after six years; those in an existing post-2022 tenancy; and those in a new-build rental property. This will create more 'rent insiders' and 'rent outsiders', who are generally younger people . Critically, the ability of landlords to reset rents to the market at every new tenancy arrangement should alarm tenants. In the last six years, average new market rents nationally have increased by 41 per cent (to €1,680), and by 31 per cent in Dublin (to €2,177). Many thousands of renters who have to move each year (say, for work or study) will get hammered by this provision, while other tenants are more likely to stay put. Inflation-linked rent rises are attractive when rates are low and economies booming, but not when inflation is high and economies and employment may be at risk. The new system will be so complicated vulnerable renters such as the elderly and those whose first language is not English are far more likely to experience exploitation. Already a challenge, enforcement will increasingly be an issue. Will new rent rules help or hurt tenants - or fix the housing crisis? Listen | 21:19 The Government will bring its latest housing fix to Cabinet today when it presents new rules on rent levels for at boosting supply – by encouraging large institutional investors to build and small landlords to stay in the market – the plan primarily concerns rules around Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ).Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. These changes are all driven by one overarching aim: a desperate desire to attract the international investment the Government thinks it needs to increase rental supply and help resolve the housing crisis. If new rental supply is triggered by rent inflation, our rising rent problem is apparently going to be solved by allowing rents to rise. Flann O'Brien is now writing housing strategy. On Tuesday, Minister for Housing James Browne couldn't say when rents would fall on foot of these changes, hardly a ringing endorsement of his own policy. (Hint, Minister: no realistic amount of new supply will reverse the 100 per cent increase in rents in the last decade.) The Government also seems content to funnel a generation into long-term expensive renting, while simultaneously overseeing a commensurate decline in home ownership. As UCD professor Aidan Regan has said , for the first time ever this generation of young people may be poorer than its parents. These renters will be paying the pensions of comfortable, retired homeowning teachers in the US and elsewhere as they face years in housing – and wealth – oblivion. The Government is trying to expand a rental sector already twice as large as it should be, and for which there is little public desire compared to housing for sale. The Government is conveniently ignoring its own research which shows that 87 per cent of renters aged 25-49 want to be homeowners. Do we even need this international money? The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland has suggested the establishment of a specific private savings fund devoted to housing to allow citizens to invest some of the €143 billion sitting in low interest-paying deposit accounts. So too has Fianna Fáil's own Barry Andrews MEP. Such a fund should be used to build affordable housing for sale, the housing we need. This is also financially efficient: build, sell, recycle the money, go again. You don't need gazillions of international euro to build housing for sale. Better on security of tenure than affordability, the proposals to reform Ireland's imperfect but functioning rent control feels very much like a Government in panic. This impression is not helped by a mismanaged launch, including patchy performances in TV interviews and a botched press release, which had to be reissued a few hours later. By incentivising the rental industry, the Government is anxious to see house completion numbers increase quickly after last year's politically arrogant broken promises – but at the expense of a generation of aspirational homeowners. Once again Government is trying to control a market it can't. Only two things are certain beyond death and taxes: the private sector will not solve our housing problems and, barring global mayhem, rents are not coming down any time soon. Dr Lorcan Sirr is senior lecturer in housing at the Technological University Dublin
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, June 12th: On rent market changes, the media and hurling
Sir, – For a political party that once declared their support for 'people who get up early in the morning', the changes announced in the rental market feels like a statutory stab in the back. As a property investor who had many sleepless nights during the 'crash', and who has worked hard all my life and done without, I now find my investments held hostage by a legislative tangle of incomprehensible rules and regulations. And why? All because a government has failed miserably to address the housing crisis and needs a fall guy to sate the baying populist politicians on the Opposition benches. Who was there for me when interest rates were rising, when the banks were spitting in my face and tenants were not to be found? No help, no rescue plan for landlords then. We struggled through at great cost, financially, emotionally and physically. READ MORE The Rental Control Zones (introduced in 2016) were to last just three years – they continue in place leaving many small landlords collecting rents that are at 60 per cent or less of market value in an environment of rising maintenance and management charges. Fine Gael should hang theirs collective heads in shame. In an effort to reach those who will never be theirs, they have left the 'true blues' out in the cold. A price will be paid. –Yours, etc, NEVILLE SCARGILL, Bray, Co Wicklow. Gender issues and the media Sir, – It's a rare and welcome sight to see an Irish journalist tackle the contentious trans debate, and Hugh Linehan's recent article does so with commendable courage (' Why is Irish Media so reticent about covering gender issues? ' June 9th) By addressing what others avoid, Linehan upholds George Orwell's standard that 'journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations'. For this, he deserves significant credit. However, I was puzzled by Linehan's description of me as 'an activist with a clear ideological stance'. I challenge him to define this supposed ideological stance, as I suspect he'll struggle to do so. My work is driven not by ideology but by a commitment to reality, biological facts, and professional responsibility. As a psychotherapist, I am duty-bound to advocate for best-practice care for gender-distressed young people, just as journalists like Linehan are obliged to confront challenging issues in the public sphere. It's unfortunate that his piece, while rightly noting Irish journalism's reluctance to engage with this topic, mischaracterises my mental health work as activism rather than professional integrity. In 2021, I founded Genspect, an international organisation that promotes a non-medicalised approach to gender-related distress. We believe that feminine boys should be free to wear dresses, and that masculine girls should be able to express stereotypically masculine traits, without being directed towards puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. As a former masculine girl myself, I know firsthand how society struggles to accept gender-nonconforming children and I advocate for a world that embraces this nonconformity without relying on medical intervention. Genspect provides vital psychological support through regular online meetings for individuals harmed by medical transition, parents of trans-identified youth, and those who identify as transgender. With approximately 1,500 individuals supported, including over 360 detransitioners – people who have medically transitioned and now seek to reverse this transition – Genspect is the only organisation in the world that offers free support to detransitioners. This is not activism; it's a response to urgent, unmet needs. Linehan rightly notes that Irish journalism has too often sidestepped these complex issues. RTÉ, in particular, has avoided meaningful engagement, failing its obligations as a public service broadcaster. This silence has eroded clarity, rigour, and public trust. Linehan's article is a long-overdue example of intellectual honesty and moral courage. I hope it inspires more journalists to ask tough questions and engage thoughtfully. I also respectfully request that the paper of record clarify the characterisation of my work. – Yours, etc STELLA O'MALLEY, Birr, Co Offaly. Sir, – I would like to commend and thank Hugh Linehan for his acknowledgement of the failure of the Irish journalistic class (with a few notable exceptions) to do their job and report on the issues around gender identity and its impact on children and women. His explanation, or excuse, as to why this happened will be of little comfort to parents and women who have experienced radio (and print) silence in trying to engage in a national discussion about actual evidence, best practice, safeguarding and fairness. Linehan is correct that children, and women, deserve better. As a starting point, we need the media to do its job and report on the evidence and the facts. The Irish Times would do well to engage and finally reassert itself as a paper of record on this issue. – Yours etc, SHEENA McAFEE, Dartry, Dublin 6. Godly consultants Sir, – Tom O'Dowd MD (Letters, June 11th) asks 'how are managers expected to deal with a few highly unionised well-paid doctors with track records of bullying junior staff and playing the system?' Perhaps addressing them as God or Your Majesty would do the trick. –Yours, etc, BRIAN AHERN, Clonsilla, Dublin. Nursing homes scandals Sir, – The recent horrifying revelations concerning maltreatment of some residents in some care homes indirectly highlights the critical importance of enabling infirm people to remain in their own homes for as long as is feasible. A critical factor, in enabling people to remain in their homes for as long as possible, is the support that they receive, especially, and not just from family members and neighbours, but also from the unsung heroes, the health care assistants who visit infirm people in their homes and provide them with the sustenance and care that they need order to supplement their support. We see this in the case of an elderly family member. Included in this rank of busy and extremely burdened health care assistants are the many who are non-nationals in origin and who, alongside their Irish counterparts, provide empathetic and utterly devoted care, sometimes to a level way beyond their employment remit. Let us celebrate all those who deserve celebration, who all too often are undervalued even though what they do, on a daily basis, is some of the most important work in society. Without this vital group of healthcare workers there are many, now contently living at home, who would already be in care homes, perhaps receiving less than optimal care for their individual needs, not to mention the premature loss of their autonomy. Proper pay and conditions, sufficient time for visits and proper recognition of the invaluable role of these vital people within society ought to be a minimum practical provision in a truly caring society. – Yours, etc, REGINA and ANTHONY LAYNG, Ringsend Road, Dublin 4. Sir, – Prof Des O'Neill calls for a number of measures, including stronger advocacy voices, to address the lingering crisis in our nursing homes ('Has anything changed since Leas Cross?', June 10th ). Unfortunately, there will never be enough professionally trained advocates to help residents. The wider community can play a pivotal role in this regard. The theme of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15th is connection is protection – by being good neighbours and watching out for each other we can protect the most vulnerable from potential abuse. Residents living in nursing homes become quickly disconnected from the rest of society with many experiencing profound loneliness. Such a situation can be a breeding ground for bad work practices and abuse. Communities who visit residents regularly in their local nursing homes are uniquely placed to break the cycle of loneliness, call out poor standards of care and become advocates for the most vulnerable. The persistent determination of those families who continue to fight for their loved ones featured in the recent RTÉ Investigates: Inside Ireland's Nursing Homes should be a rallying call for communities to take up the mantle. – Yours, etc, TONY CARROLL, Beaumont, Dublin. Trump and fatigue Sir, – US president Donald Trump seems intent on testing the powers of his office to the limit. Perhaps it is time for the United States to consider changing the first line of the preamble to the Constitution from 'we the people' to 'I, the President. – Yours, etc, NUALA DELANEY, Killiney, Co Dublin. Sir, – Would it be possible to publish the paper for a week without a reference to President Trump ? I'd settle for a day. – Yours, etc, PAUL WALSH, Co Dublin. Freedom flotilla interception Sir, – So the Israeli military forces intercepted and seized the non-profit Freedom Flotilla Coalition's yacht in international waters, while she was sailing to Gaza with a symbolic contribution of urgently needed humanitarian aid. The stomach churning photo of an Israel Defense Forces individual pressing a sandwich and orange juice on a bemused Greta Thunberg said it all. There were reports that the flotilla detainees would be subjected to a film, while 'guests of the nation', about the original attack by Hamas on Israel in October, 2023. One wonders, purely for balance, if the Israeli government would also show a documentary on the total destruction of Gaza and the killing of an estimated 54,000 people in 20 months of ruthless and incessant bombardment. It was probably unlikely that there would be time to show the detail, in the face of Israel's haste to get the turbulent group of flotilla volunteers off their hands. –Yours, etc, PATRICK JUDGE, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. An affront to humanity Sir, – The release of Ratko Mladic (' Ratko Mladic: Terminally ill Bosnian Serb general serving life for genocide seeks release, ' June 10th) would be an affront to humanity and the entire concept of justice itself. Last year I visited Sarajevo and Mostar, having previously studied the Bosnian war and genocide. I am lucky enough to not have lived during such utter depravity, but its lessons on ethnonationalism and the failure of the international community should never be forgotten. As you stand in the Sehidsko Mezarje Kovaci cemetery next to the old town in Sarajevo, you will witness young people weep as they mourn their parents who never had the chance to see their children go to college or have families; the partners and parents of those who were blown to bits before their very eyes by Serb mortars. They remember what Mladic did to Bosnia like it was yesterday, and it will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Victims of a brutal 1,425-day siege, a city abandoned to slaughter by the world. Today, it stands as a city where Muslims, Jews and Christians worship and live side by side, as they have done for over 500 years; a stark contrast to the vision of a resurgent reactionary nationalism across Europe, the United States and the Middle East. Mladic's lawyers have argued that he should be allowed to live out the remainder of his days alongside his family; there can be no true justice for what happened in Bosnia. However, allowing Mladic to experience freedom would be the most grotesque injustice for those who will never cease to mourn. Will international justice fail them once again? – Yours, etc, ANDREW DUNNE, Rialto, Dublin 8. Free-flowing hurling Sir, – Gordon Manning's article about referees and free-flowing hurling('I f we want free-flowing hurling we must accept the refereeing that facilitates it, ' June 10th,) is timely. When the subject of free-flowing hurling is discussed, it is normally assumed that it is entirely the prerogative of the referee that a match is free-flowing ie. the referee tolerates a certain level of fouling or rule-breaking in the interests of a free-flowing game. For some strange reason, the spotlight is never placed on the players who commit the fouls and break the rules. Players behaviour should be placed at the centre of any debate regarding the desire for a free-flowing game. It is quite simple – play by the rules and there will be fewer frees. Then you get a free-flowing game that avoids dubious (and often dangerous) tackles that otherwise become the norm in a match. – Yours, etc, EAMON O'FLYNN, Merrion Road, Dublin 4. Unrestricted censorship Sir, –I had quite a different experience of a library than the one experienced by President Michael D Higgins and detailed by Ray Burke in An Irish Diary (June 9th). All the books were bad for you in the one I visited, but I nevertheless had unrestricted access to them. The Department of Justice had a store of banned publications which they kindly allowed me entry to about 25 years ago. As Burke points out, so many famous authors had had their works scrutinised that the censors handled what are now very valuable books. I visited the collection to see if there were editions that should have been transferred to the National Library or otherwise preserved. Unfortunately, there weren't. Instead, there were shelves of randomly assorted volumes and a small selection of top shelf magazines. The books ranged from aged historical romances that had left my teenage sisters undamaged (and which were by then available in any second-hand shop in the country), to more recherché and pornographic texts in Latin (which no one bothered to ban as they were protected by classic status). While no individual work was valuable, the collection is of considerable interest as it contained the underlinings and jottings of the censorship committee members and I hope that it has been preserved intact. – Yours, etc, JOHN FLOOD, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
The Journal
13 hours ago
- The Journal
The UK has finally struck a deal with the EU on managing its land border with Spain
THE EU AND UK have finally struck a post-Brexit deal on the status of the territory of Gibraltar, which is located on the Iberian peninsula south of Spain but is controlled by the UK. The deal, which has taken five years since UK left the EU, should ease the flow of people and goods over the Gibraltar-Spain border. When the UK left the EU in 2020, the relationship between Gibraltar – historically an important military base for Britain due to its position at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea — and the EU remained unresolved. Talks between the UK, Spain, EU and Gibraltar on a deal had made halting progress during several rounds of negotiations under the UK's previous Conservative government but the arrival of Labour last summer gave new impetus. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said it was 'a truly historic milestone for the European Union, including Spain, as well as for the United Kingdom and Gibraltar'. 'This agreement benefits everyone and will bring legal certainty and confidence to the people and businesses across the region,' he said during a news conference in Brussels. He said he was 'absolutely convinced' it would be ratified by the parties because 'it's a good agreement'. A truly historic milestone: an EU-UK political agreement on the future relationship concerning Gibraltar. This benefits everyone and reinforces a new chapter in the 🇪🇺🇬🇧 relationship. Our joint statement with @jmalbares @DavidLammy @FabianPicardo 👉📝 . — Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) June 11, 2025 In a statement, the four parties said the agreement would create a fluid border between Gibraltar and Spain, with no physical barriers or checks between the territory and the border town of La Linea. Advertisement People arriving in the territory by air or sea would undergo dual border checks at Gibraltar port and airport, to be carried out by Gibraltar and Spanish officials. 'Spanish officials will be responsible for ensuring the integrity of the Schengen Area,' said a UK statement, which likened the arrangement to the system at London's St Pancras station, where French police carry out border checks for passengers bound for the EU. 'Immigration and law and order in Gibraltar will remain the exclusive responsibility of Gibraltar's authorities,' said the statement from Britain's foreign office. 'Today's breakthrough delivers a practical solution after years of uncertainty,' British Foreign Minister David Lammy said in a statement. The agreement 'protects British sovereignty, supports Gibraltar's economy and allows businesses to plan for the long-term once again', he said. Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo said he was 'delighted' about the agreement that will bring 'legal certainty to the people of Gibraltar, its businesses and to those across the region who rely on stability at the frontier'. The deal, he said, 'will protect future generations of British Gibraltarians and does not in any way affect our British sovereignty'. Today, with @DavidLammy and @SDoughtyMP we held a Cabinet meeting in No6 Convent Place to agree final parameters for negotiation. We will now travel to Brussels to meet @MarosSefcovic and @jmalbares . It's time to try to finalise arrangements for lasting, stable relationship… — Fabian Picardo (@FabianPicardo) June 11, 2025 Around 15,000 people — over half of Gibraltar's workforce, according to the UK — cross the land border between Spain and Gibraltar every day. Britain and Spain have disputed control of the tiny territory since it was ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. © AFP 2025
