Latest news with #TomGilligan
BreakingNews.ie
25-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Ireland's 67,000 empty holiday homes: Find out how many are in your area
Are holiday home owners contributing to Ireland's housing crisis? That was the question raised this week when a senior official in Co Mayo called for a 'boycott' of people who own second homes. Advertisement Tom Gilligan, Mayo County Council's director of services for housing, initially called for a community-led initiative targeting people who own holiday homes, describing it as "demanding accountability" from property owners. "It is about trying to get these underutilised, vacant, empty homes back into use," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Wednesday, invoking the historical connection between Mayo and Captain Boycott, whom he characterised as an absentee landlord. However, Mr Gilligan later apologised for "any concern or distress" caused by his proposal. In a statement released by the council on Thursday, he said he was "deeply committed to addressing the complex housing challenges facing Mayo and to working collaboratively with councillors, stakeholders, and the community in doing so". Advertisement Despite the controversy, Mr Gilligan's comments succeeded in highlighting a growing concern backed by concrete data. The 2022 Census revealed a striking trend: holiday homes in the Republic increased by almost 8 per cent between 2016 and 2022, reaching nearly 67,000 properties nationwide. This growth occurred against the backdrop of the State's well-documented housing shortage. The Central Statistics Office defines these "holiday homes" as dwellings that remain unoccupied during the census but are used periodically, typically during summer months. Crucially, they are not classified as vacant homes, meaning they sit outside any policy interventions targeting empty properties. Coastal counties like Kerry, Donegal, Cork and Galway have the highest concentrations of holiday homes. Advertisement In some areas, the numbers are staggering: holiday homes comprise 65 per cent of all housing stock in places like Kilkee in Co Clare and Derrynane in Co Kerry. The statistics present these communities with a fundamental challenge: balancing their tourism-driven economy against local housing needs. In the UK, the authorities have decided to tackle the issue through taxation – house prices plunged in some parts of Wales after the introduction of a 150 per cent council tax premium on second homes. Scotland has implemented supplement taxes on second home purchases, making it more expensive to acquire holiday properties. Advertisement The rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb has also blurred the lines between holiday accommodation and permanent housing stock. Interestingly, recent research suggests that these platforms may not be the primary driver of rental shortages that many assume them to be. A study published last month by the Economic and Social Research Institute found no correlation between increases in Airbnb activity and declining new tenancies between 2019 and 2023. 'This does not mean that Airbnb activity has not had a detrimental impact on the private rental sector (PRS) in specific local markets, but it does not appear to be the root cause of the observed falls in available PRS accommodation nationwide,' the report said. Advertisement Instead, they identified reduced market turnover as a key factor, with many tenants choosing to stay put rather than face higher rents elsewhere or because homeownership remains out of reach. The Government has acknowledged these concerns and plans to introduce a register of short-term letting properties by summer 2026. This system would require landlords to obtain change-of-use planning permission before listing entire houses and apartments on platforms like Airbnb, particularly in designated rent pressure zones. Officials estimate this register could redirect 12,000 properties from the tourism market back into long-term rental accommodation. Whether this measure, combined with other housing initiatives, will meaningfully address the complex housing crisis remains to be seen.
Extra.ie
25-05-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Official who called for boycott of holiday homes has three houses
The senior council executive who controversially called for a boycott of holiday homes owns three houses – collectively worth €1m, can reveal. Aside from a substantial rural home in Corrandulla, Co. Galway, Mayo County Council director of services Tom Gilligan and his wife, Josephine, also own two rental properties in the Headford Road area of Galway city. Mr Gilligan's proposal to boycott holiday home owners to free up housing caused consternation when it emerged earlier this week. Mayo County Council director of services Tom Gilligan. Pic: File The suggestion, emailed to members of Mayo County Council's housing committee on Sunday night, drew widespread criticism when it was reported. On Wednesday, Mr Gilligan doubled down and defended his idea, saying it was about 'demanding accountability' from holiday home owners. He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: 'It is about trying to get these underutilised, vacant, empty homes back into use. 'We are in the middle of a housing crisis. It's very important that we look at all options, nothing is off the table.' But following a backlash from holiday home owners and many other stakeholders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Mr Gilligan capitulated and issued an apology on Thursday. Pic: File 'I sincerely apologise for any concern or distress,' he said. Property registration records confirm Mr Gilligan's 282 square metre family home, north of Galway city, off the road to Tuam, has four ensuite bedrooms, with potential for a fifth. The standalone, two-story dwelling had recently been listed for sale with an asking price of €435,000. Mr Gilligan also owns two rental homes, both in Galway's Tirellan Heights estate, each of which are estimated to be worth more than €300,000. Both are listed with the Residential Tenancies Board as three-bedroom properties that are being rented to tenants. Pic: Google Earth At current market rates, the Tirellan Heights properties could fetch as much as €2,500 each a month, providing Mr Gilligan and his wife with €5,000 monthly income as landlords. According to property registration files, the first Tirellan Heights property was originally owned by Mr Gilligan's wife since 1995, before it was transferred into their joint names in March 2022. The second nearby Tirellan Heights property, owned jointly by the couple, was purchased in 2003 with an IIB mortgage. That loan was transferred to Pepper Finance in 2022 before being settled in 2023. The couple's family home, a 20-minute drive from Galway city, was purchased in 2008. In 2013, an Irish Life & Permanent mortgage 'stamped to cover €360,000' was registered against the property; that loan is still outstanding. Contacted by this week, Mr Gilligan confirmed his three Galway properties were the only ones he owned: 'Yes, that's correct, and I can confirm they have never been used for short-term letting/holiday accommodation.' Asked how he distinguished his situation from someone who is using a second property for their own leisure, Mr Gilligan replied: 'In my case, the focus has been on providing homes for people – permanent housing that's accessible and secure. 'I believe the key issue is not ownership itself, but how we manage housing availability in a way that serves the public good, especially in a housing crisis.' Asked about the criticism he has faced for his call to boycott holiday home owners, Mr Gilligan said: 'Yes, I am aware of some criticism, and I have no further comment to make.' Originally from Mullies outside Manorhamilton in Co. Leitrim, Mr Gilligan has previously worked at Leitrim County Council, as well as Limerick City and County Council and Waterford County Council. He has also previously worked as an accountant with the National Roads Authority. Mr Gilligan is the founder of the website, a Mayo County Council initiative that was rolled out across the country. He has also been a director of several community firms associated with his role in different local authorities. More recently, together with his wife, Mr Gilligan has incorporated a new company called FutureProof Innovations Ltd. The company was established in January this year and is listed as a 'web portal' enterprise. Separately, his LinkedIn profile promotes a webpage called where he offers consultancy services to businesses saying: 'Fresh thinking and input could transform and revitalise your business.' On his profile, Mr Gilligan refers to himself as 'a strategic thinker and creator of ideas and opportunities'. He states: 'I develop and manage effective working relationships with all stakeholders. I have strong day-to-day strategic and operational metrics, including financial, budgetary and property management.' Mr Gilligan is also a musician and author who plays the drums and runs He was inspired by his father, Tommy Gilligan, whom he would watch play during his formative years in Leitrim. In 2021, he published a book, Irish Drummers Volume 1: Interviews with 32 Irish Drummers. The project included interviews with drummers from bands such as Fontaines D.C. and Villagers, and received positive reviews from Hot Press. Additional reporting from Colm McGuirk
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Mayo housing official apologises for ‘distress' caused by holiday home boycott proposal
A Mayo County Council housing official has apologised for 'any concern or distress' caused by his proposal to boycott holiday homeowners. In a statement released by the council on Thursday, Tom Gilligan, director of services with responsibility for housing, said he is 'deeply committed to addressing the complex housing challenges facing Mayo and to working collaboratively with councillors, stakeholders, and the community in doing so'. He said he circulated an email to 'prompt internal discussion on a sensitive but relevant issue' and he did not anticipate it would be released publicly before members of the council's strategic policy committee had a chance to consider it. His proposal was circulated to the committee after it met last week and its members asked the council to examine ways to activate vacant homes for use. READ MORE Mayo County Council provided a statement on the issue on Wednesday. However, it released an updated statement on Thursday saying it wanted to highlight its 'sincere regret' for 'upset' caused to local elected members, the public and, 'in particular, owners of second homes in Co Mayo'. A council spokeswoman said the proposals were not intended for publication but were 'exclusively intended as an internal discussion document'. Despite the council's earlier statement seeking to clarify the issue, she said, 'a lot of confusion and disquiet remains evident'. She said the local authority is 'not aware how this email found its way to the media'. 'Had the correspondence not been released to the media prematurely, the matter would have been considered by the members of the [strategic policy committee] in the normal way and evidently would not have progressed any further,' she said.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
The idea of roadblocks to keep people from their holiday homes sounds fantastical, but is it?
The scene opens ... it is early summer in Connemara . Dusk is falling. A black Range Rover with 27 D plates approaches Roundstone from the east. The driver slows, dims the lights and pulls over. The woman in the passenger side turns around and speaks to her two children in the back seat. 'Okay, kids, let's go over it again in case we are stopped by the men ... ' 'Where are we going?' she asks. 'To Clifden .' READ MORE 'Where are we staying?' 'The Clifden Arms Hotel.' 'Good.' The woman turns back to the man. 'What if they don't believe us?' 'It's cool. I have made an online booking. We can cancel it when we get to the cottage,' he replies before driving off. 'Why don't the men want us to go to our holiday cottage, Mummy?' the girl asks. The woman pauses before answering quietly: 'They have nowhere to live, and they think it's our fault'. 'Is it our fault?' the girl asks. The driver responds: 'No ... it's the Government's.' Apologies to Paul Lynch and all other authors of post-apocalyptic fiction. The idea of roadblocks in Connemara to stop people getting to their holiday homes admittedly stretches credulity. But until Wednesday the idea that a senior manager in neighbouring Mayo County Council would call for a boycott of holiday homeowners might have seemed equally so. The fact that he was taken seriously – to the point of him being interviewed on RTÉ's Morning Ireland – takes it closer to the level of plausibility. In case you missed it, Tom Gilligan, the council's director of services with responsibility for housing and roads, emailed his colleagues in the local authority's strategic policy committee (SPC) over the weekend floating the idea of a boycott in the context of the housing shortage in the county. 'So, the objective around this proposed boycott is to highlight the impact of underused housing stock on local communities, encourage policy reform and taxation measures on vacant second homes. And also, to push holiday homeowners to either return properties for sale to the rental market or to the long-term rental market,' he told RTÉ. [ 'Nothing is off the table': Mayo housing official defends call to boycott holiday homeowners Opens in new window ] The thing about Gilligan's comments is that – as was said about Donald Trump during his first term – they should be taken seriously but not literally. Like Trump at his most intuitive, Gilligan has tapped into the resentment of a group that understandably feels its voice is not being heard. It is galling to be surrounded by homes that are unoccupied for much of the year in the middle of a housing crisis. In Trump's case, it was blue-collar, rural Americans – mostly men. In Gilligan's case, it's people in rural Ireland who can't find a place for themselves, or their children, to live. While both Trump and Gilligan have identified a group with legitimate grievances, neither seems to have a workable solution to their problems. Trump's first-term efforts at protectionism were stymied by others in his party and Government, but the second time around he launched his disastrous tariff policy. Gilligan's proposed boycott is misguided and even less likely to succeed than the tariffs. But Gilligan has hit on a word that encodes the anger of those who might agree with him. As Gilligan pointed out, the word 'boycott' is synonymous with Mayo and the late 19th century protests against landlord Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott. 'The local community at the time took it upon themselves to try a form of civil protest ... It's very important that we should never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world,' he told RTÉ. It will be telling to see where Gilligan's idea goes from here. It will no doubt find favour with some frustrated people in the west of Ireland, but also the ragtag group of charlatans who comprise the far right. If the idea of protest – rather than the unworkable concept of a boycott – does gain some traction with the wider community in Mayo, then this serious local issue could come on to the national agenda. We shouldn't discount the possibility. Gilligan boasts an impressive CV and is very different from the angry self-publicists who spread their poison on social media. A qualified accountant with a MBA in local government from DCU, he has held various posts in the public service and the private sector. He is also the founder of , a national housing initiative developed to get empty/derelict homes back into use. The real takeaway – particularly for holiday homeowners with Range Rovers – is that they underestimate at their peril the level of simmering anger felt by people who are locked out of the housing market in parts of the country where homes sit empty for much of the year.
Irish Independent
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Who was Charles Boycott, the English land agent who inspired the word ‘boycott'?
The word 'boycott' is now an everyday part of the English language, but only goes back as far as the 19th century – and its origins are tied directly to Ireland. Senior Mayo County Council official Tom Gilligan has called for a boycott of holiday-home owners to bring vacant properties back into full-time use to help tackle the housing crisis.
