Construction tender awarded for redevelopment of COPE Galway Homeless Service
'We welcome the redevelopment of this facility into a state-of-the-art Day Centre for adults who are homeless and the addition of accommodation on site, as part of the response to homelessness in Galway City.' Said COPE Galway.
Carey Building Contractors will start building the new development to replace the existing Teach Corrib Day Centre on Seamus Quirke Road with a modern, energy-efficient facility. The facility will consist of an improved day centre with ten year-round, interchangeable units for emergency accommodation.
The council states this is a step forward under the Housing for All action plan.
The council welcomes the infrastructure improvements for this 'vulnerable segment of society' chief executive Leonard Cleary said.
'This initiative will enhance infrastructure, improve facilities, and strengthen the support provided by multiple agencies supporting homeless men and women in our city.'
Completion of the project is projected for early 2027.
In a statement COPE said: 'Day Centre services continue to be provided from an alternative location during this period of redevelopment. With the support of Galway City Council, the Day Centre team at COPE Galway have worked tirelessly to ensure there has been no interruption to this vital service.'
While construction is on-going, information on interim arrangements can be found on the Cope Galway website www.CopeGalway.ie or contacting Cope Galway on 091 525 259.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Construction tender awarded for redevelopment of COPE Galway Homeless Service
COPE Galway Homeless Service provides essential assistance to those facing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The current drop-in centre supports adults by providing meals, shower stations, medical services, life skills training, and counselling. 'We welcome the redevelopment of this facility into a state-of-the-art Day Centre for adults who are homeless and the addition of accommodation on site, as part of the response to homelessness in Galway City.' Said COPE Galway. Carey Building Contractors will start building the new development to replace the existing Teach Corrib Day Centre on Seamus Quirke Road with a modern, energy-efficient facility. The facility will consist of an improved day centre with ten year-round, interchangeable units for emergency accommodation. The council states this is a step forward under the Housing for All action plan. The council welcomes the infrastructure improvements for this 'vulnerable segment of society' chief executive Leonard Cleary said. 'This initiative will enhance infrastructure, improve facilities, and strengthen the support provided by multiple agencies supporting homeless men and women in our city.' Completion of the project is projected for early 2027. In a statement COPE said: 'Day Centre services continue to be provided from an alternative location during this period of redevelopment. With the support of Galway City Council, the Day Centre team at COPE Galway have worked tirelessly to ensure there has been no interruption to this vital service.' While construction is on-going, information on interim arrangements can be found on the Cope Galway website or contacting Cope Galway on 091 525 259.
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Social housing scheme for Wexford remains at standstill 18 months on – ‘It's not being built, there aren't even plans available'
In November 2023 then Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien revealed that the Bunclody development was to be 'bundled' with five other schemes in Dublin, Limerick, and Galway. Due to deliver 642 houses across six sites, the project remains in the pre-procurement phase as of July 2025 and, at the monthly meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor Barbara Anne Murphy asked why it had not proceeded any further. 'That residential zoned land isn't being developed despite there being a huge need for houses in Bunclody and a huge need for people to buy their own homes,' she said following a presentation on Wexford's County Development Plan. Critical of that plan and the suggestion Wexford was meeting its housing targets across the county, Cllr Murphy said the situation in Bunclody was not unique. 'There are plans to build 65 houses on Hospital Hill, but we have had those plans for I don't know how long. If this is happening in other places too, then our County Development Plan (CDP) isn't working. If you live in Bunclody you can't just buy a site and build on it, you won't get planning permission to build in a rural area (under the CDP),. "You can't build in rural areas and you can't buy or rent a house in Bunclody itself, so it's clear to me the CDP isn't working, it's certainly not working for Bunclody.' In response, senior planner Diarmuid Heuston said there were 'obstacles' to overcome when it came to delivering new builds in the county's villages. 'There are proposals in place (for new developments), we have to work our way through them, but there are a lot of obstacles we have to overcome,' he said. 'We do have wastewater capacity in the villages, and they are very important in terms of delivering housing, but there are delays in some of those villages. We need the developers to come forward. "But we will keep an eye on how things are going there and continue to have discussions with you on it.' He was supported by chief executive Eddie Taaffe who said the council was focusing on finding developers to build on the sites which had already been earmarked for housing. 'The issue in Bunclody is the sites which have been zoned have not been developed yet,' he said. 'The solution isn't to zone more land, it's to gain an understanding as to why those sites aren't being brought forward by the people who own them or not being sold to developers.' Accepting that, in terms of its overall figures, Co Wexford was meeting the targets set out under the government's Housing For All plan, Cllr Murphy said those targets were primarily being met in the county's urban areas. 'We're not meeting the need throughout the county, and Bunclody is an example of that. We can talk about how we're going to work with developers, land owners and so on, but how long is that going to take? We have a housing crisis right now. We have land in the ownership of the state which is not being built on, there's not even plans available. "Imagine how frustrated people who have earned enough to get a mortgage but can't buy or build in their own area are.' Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Irish Independent
County Mayo short 90 homes as social housing targets missed by 23%
The statistics, released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, show that of a target of 395 houses, only 304 were built. The issue was raised by Cllr Michael Kilcoyne at the last meeting of Mayo County Council where he questioned management on the shortfall. 'You achieved 77% of the target in a county where we have over 200 people in emergency accommodation. I think it's a reasonable question to ask, why did you miss the target by so much?' His question was aimed at the Director of Services Tom Gilligan, who stated that Mayo County Council did deliver on its targets. However, the shortfall arose in contributions from the Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). Under the Housing For All plan, local authorities are responsible for 60pc of new-build social houses, while AHBs are responsible for the remaining 40pc. Housing can be built directly by a local authority or an AHB, alternatively it can be delivered through turnkey, the purchasing of new housing units from private developers. 'In Mayo our target was 395 houses. The council itself, and through turnkey, delivered 63% of that, a total of 250. The AHB sector for that three-year period delivered 38 units, and 16 units were delivered through part five,' said Mr Gilligan Part five refers to a part of the planning legislation that allows local authorities to purchase a percentage of land for housing development where planning permission has already been granted. They can purchase up to 20pc of the land at market value and use it to deliver social and affordable housing. Mr Gilligan continued, 'The reality is that in the last three years or so, the council itself delivered. The AHBs did not deliver. I've raised this on numerous occasions, outlined it to the members, and I've also raised it with the department. Unfortunately we have a very low level of activity here in relation to AHBs.' In response to this, Cllr Kilcoyne said: 'Over the three-year period, the number of houses - whether it was the man on the moon, Santa Claus, the council or the AHBs who built them - were 90 short.' Speaking to the Irish Independent after the meeting, Cllr Kilcoyne expanded on this remark: 'I don't need excuses, I just want it corrected and done. It seems to me the local authority always has somebody else to blame except themselves. Management in Mayo County Council always puts forward whatever is necessary to avoid taking the blame, 'I regard the excuse given as a flimsy excuse. The fact is, the management of Mayo County Council, for whatever reason, missed their target by 90 houses. You can blame everybody else, the storm, Christmas, the weather, or the man on the moon. At the end of the day they are the housing authority.' The Irish Independent also spoke to Mr Gilligan after the meeting. He reiterated that the council is responsible for 60pc of new-build social houses, they delivered 63pc of their target, and 77pc of the overall target was achieved. 'Unfortunately, the delivery levels in Mayo by the AHB sector have not yet reached the scale required to meet our ambitious housing targets. We remain committed to achieving our targets overall and working with various stakeholders in order for that to happen,' he said. Mr Gilligan pointed out that western counties are not attracting the same attention from large-scale AHBs as those on the east coast, 'As regards the large AHBs, they have concentrated on the urban centres and the larger local authorities, particularly on the east coast. I would say it's a situation where the population demand is higher, the economies are of scale, developments are viable and there is greater access to infrastructure services, 'Rural and regional areas like Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim often fall outside their core delivery focus, which is regrettable.' The statistics show that in Sligo, 55pc of its 270 house target was met. Of the 149 houses that were built, 29 were delivered by AHBs. Meaning they produced only 19pc of their 40pc build target. In contrast, Meath had a target of 832 houses but built 1,405, achieving 168pc of its target. Of these, AHBs produced 682 houses. In Laois, the target was 359 houses, but 670 were built, smashing the target by 187pc. AHBs produced 395 of these houses in Laois. For comparison, Mayo's overall target for 2022-2024 was also 395. Mr Gilligan raised the issue with the Department for Housing, he said that it has been acknowledged by them, 'I'm hopeful that as part of the new Housing For All plan that will be coming out in September, there will be more emphasis on the larger AHBs and they will develop and build more houses here in the west of Ireland, 'There is a huge need here, we have the same housing crisis as the rest of the country.' He noted that housing bodies Tuath and Co-Operative Housing Ireland are working on projects in the county, but mentioned it would be great to get other large-scale AHBs such as Respond and Clúid, to turn their attention to Mayo. In response to Cllr Kilcoyne's criticism that the council was placing blame elsewhere, and his description of the AHBs explanation as a "flimsy excuse', Mr Gilligan said: 'I'm not into the blame game myself, it's not about trying to portion blame or demonise anyone in the sector. We really do want to work collaboratively with housing bodies to deliver, 'Cllr Kilcoyne is right, we do have a housing crisis, we do have people on our housing list, we have people who are in emergency accommodation and we want to provide long term sustainable housing for people. We all have to get involved in order to make that happen, 'If you look in relation to a tripod, we are one leg of that. We need the other two legs as well. The AHBs and part five.' In county Leitrim, AHBs produced zero houses between 2022 - 2024, but the county still managed 98pc of its 82 house target. Leitrim County Council built 73 houses meeting 89pc of the 60pc target. The remaining seven houses were delivered through part five. Cllr Kilcoyne called on Mayo County Council to take responsibility for housing delivery. The statistics from Leitrim suggest their council took on the responsibility Cllr Kilcoyne believes is needed in Mayo.
