10-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
New initiative launched to bring vacant homes in the Galway Gaeltacht back to life
An Spidéal and An Cheathrú Rua have the largest populations of Irish speakers in County Galway.
To be successful in this project, a new position as the Coordinator of Empty Houses will be created whose job it will be to find homes and occupants eligible.
''This initiative stems from a decision by the Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta to facilitate and support existing Government schemes to address the housing crisis in Gaeltacht areas,' Údarás na Gaeltachta CEO, Tomás Ó Síocháin, said.
'Similarly, Údarás na Gaeltachta is supporting a number of communities to develop community housing initiatives and offering suitable sites from the Údarás land portfolio to support Irish-language-led sustainable housing development in Gaeltacht areas.'
Recent figures show that Gaeltacht areas have a higher percentage of vacant homes (11pc) than the national average of 8pc. To combat this, the organisation will place a special focus on communities that are losing population.
The Galway Gaeltacht makes up 26pc of the total Gaeltacht area at 1,225 km2.
In March of 2025, The Irish Independent reported on protests by BÁNÚ at a County Council meeting stating four primary reasons people are 'pushing away from the area'.
'The lack of rental accommodation, high housing prices, planning restrictions on one-off houses in rural areas, and little or no schemes of houses being developed in Irish speaking areas by the housing authorities.'
The goal is that these homes would be classified as long-term rentals to tenants who will hold Irish as the main household language. While this is a mandatory clause of the initiative, other details like incentives for dwellers in these homes have not been confirmed.
