21 Comments

• ciaradexy | Feb 13, 2012, 12:58 PM EST

  Paddy, Focus are very vocal regarding the issues. Theyre responsible for the government finally getting a minister for housing! Ive just cut and paste the next bit from the website- By the end of 2013 Focus Ireland will have: > supported a further 2,500 households to secure and sustain a home > delivered 300 additional homes to enable people with ongoing support needs to move out of homelessness > supported up to 7,000 people – including 350 families – every year that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless > established advice and information services in Cork, Sligo, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny to support up to 1,800 people a year who are at risk of becoming homeless > influenced a change of government policy to address the structural causes of homelessness in Irish society > raised €16.9 million through public and corporate support to help fund our services and housing.

• paddygrant | Feb 12, 2012, 11:09 AM EST

  Hi Ciara, I am pleased that you help out at Focus, they are a brilliant support but unfortunately not very vocal in recent times, over 1000 evictions took place in 2010, the figures for 2011 are sketchy because so many people gave up their homes due to the pressure being put on them by the banks, I deal with many people everyday in just such cases, The People's Association Watchdog have offered socially acceptable and financially viable alternative solutions to the government here but unfortunately they are only the pen-men for the Banking industry these days, also many of the people I speak to are from rural areas and want to stay there but due to the imposed poverty through highed taxes and prices accompanied by a tsunami of closing businesses, most of these people have been made unemployed and cannot meet the mortgage demands. If our cowardly corrupt government had taken a stance similar to Iceland, Russia, Argentina etc, we would have recovered by now without the private bankers robbing us blind under the protection of our impotent government, even now that we have paid all to the bank robbers they still refuse to offer loans to companies in order to try to generate a spark in the economy, of the €8 billion given to the banks for residential mortgage relief, they have only used €600,000 of that.... where did the rest go??? we all know the answer to that I suppose. I hope that their is a massive turnout to protest at the next allsop eviction auction, they should be run out of town.

• pilib04 | Feb 09, 2012, 08:17 PM EST

  ciara, the problem with knocking down the ghost towns is who is going to pay for it. you say the developers but they all escaped unscathed. you won't get anything out of them. the irish people will get stuck with the bill. unless ireland goes through some major change, the market will make the final determination as to what happens with the ghost towns. you were close with pilip, but i prefer the b.

• ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 08:24 AM EST

  Woodman, we have enough of our own elderly people here. we need young people! The ghost towns should be destroyed and the developers should pay the cost.

• sirpeter | Feb 08, 2012, 10:35 PM EST

  Curitiba.You would get a lot more houses than that in England for 40 quid.Skinheads and all.

• ShaneODowd | Feb 08, 2012, 09:02 PM EST

  We're looking for a large estate house or modernized castle/keep in the West Coast near Sligo preferably.

• uliecoolie | Feb 08, 2012, 08:06 PM EST

  Awesome!!

• Woodman | Feb 08, 2012, 07:31 PM EST

  Prices have yet to hit rock bottom anyway. So get this, they've fallen 47 per cent, so if you bought this Irish "investment property" a year ago and the value doubles from here you barely break even. Beggars can't be choosy but the Irish aren't smart enough to know that yet. So hey ciaradexy don't you worry - the old Yanks are smart enough to stay away. Maybe visit once awhile to see the ghost towns, but that's about it.

• Curitiba | Feb 08, 2012, 04:46 PM EST

  50 quid the lot for cash!

• ciaradexy | Feb 08, 2012, 03:13 PM EST

  Scrivner, no Irish people would live and work in an area that was just a retirement village for Americans so how would them being there be of any benefit to the local economy? We need vibrant towns here with young, increasing populations not an old folks home. Im out of Dublin most weekends, I pick a destination and I usually stop off in a few different towns along the way. This country is too small to be turned into a retirement village for Americans. We already have parts of Ireland that are full of Germans who do nothing to help the local economy. Elderly Americans would put more strain on public services like the health services. Id like towns to grow not be full of dying yanks!!

• Scrivner | Feb 08, 2012, 02:57 PM EST

  The marketing should be aimed at retiring yanks and the like. Seniors seeking the quiet beauty of the countryside without being too far from a town (compared to the distances in the USA). Also, they would bring in their streams of retirement income that would bolster the local economy without drawing down public services (schools, etc.).

• ciaradexy | Feb 08, 2012, 02:20 PM EST

  Paddy, no one has been evicted here yet as far as I know and I dont think they are gonna be either. There was an article in the news about it today. I volunteer with Focus ireland which is a homeless charity and in my experience, the homeless dont want to live in rural Ireland. Theyd rather stay in the cities. There has been a few cases where people have been offered housing in Port laoise and other parts of the midlands and they wouldnt take the properties. The bankers should be shot though. No issues there!

• paddygrant | Feb 08, 2012, 01:40 PM EST

  Irish Central is doing a disservice to Ireland by advertising and promoting the eviction auction of this British Auctioneer Giant, People are being evicted to fill the brochure of these vampires. Why are the vacant houses not used to accommodate the 100,000 people currently on housing waiting lists or the 5000 people sleeping on the streets instead of evicting more families to bolster the massive payouts for bankers wages and golden handshakes. Please stop portraying this social tragedy as a good thing, suicides are increasing dramatically here due in no small part to the financial woes of families under threat of evication.

• ciaradexy | Feb 08, 2012, 01:39 PM EST

  Pilip, ireland needs people to move to these towns, to repopulate them not tourists who move in for a few weeks a year. You cant have shops etc that only open for a couple of months a year either. Id move West myself if there were jobs in hospitals! These houses would end up in bits if they were only inhabited for a few weeks a year. Knock them down unless someone from the area wants one to rent out or use as a hostel or guesthouse.

• pilib04 | Feb 08, 2012, 01:36 PM EST

  pub are also failing at a fast rate. probably not the time to buy one unless you plan to be an owner, operator and live above.

• pilib04 | Feb 08, 2012, 01:35 PM EST

  the two room cottage has been all over the net. its a bank repo or i would have been interested. lovely leitrim! as for deals, for irish, these are deals considering how expensive everything is. we will probably see the return of the english investor (landlord)soon. it is true that this is not the bottom of the market. housing prices have a long way to fall in ireland. i just wish food and drink would also fall.

• pilib04 | Feb 08, 2012, 01:29 PM EST

  ciara, i don't really care who lives in these houses. ireland does not need ghost towns. the sooner they are put in the hands of individual owners, the sooner they will be taken care of properly. the ghost towns are a blight on the irish landscape. i agree that it is a shame that so many could become holiday homes, but what is the alternative? the ghost towns are going to become a serious social problem in another year or two. the real culprits are the bankers who funded this mess and who exaggerated the value of irish property. then when their scam was exposed, the irish people got stuck with the bill!!! a very good reason to vote Sinn Fein in the future. SF is the only party to oppose the bailout and the euro extortion!

• ciaradexy | Feb 08, 2012, 12:58 PM EST

  The West of Ireland really doesnt need to become a holiday home destination for foreigners. it needs people to actually move there and be part of the communities rather than being a Summer blow in.

• johnshiel | Feb 08, 2012, 11:03 AM EST

  what legal hurdles does an american have to clear to purchase real estate in ireland?

• SeamusMartin | Feb 08, 2012, 10:08 AM EST

  They need to drop further for me to consider. If they did I would!

• Yerffac | Feb 08, 2012, 09:48 AM EST

  these deals are not that great!