I had a great time meeting so many people on Saturday at the Festival of Ideas in Drogheda, where I presented some of my work on dereliction and vacancy as part of the heritage and regeneration talks. Drogheda is a vibrant town with loads of hidden historical gems, and some areas have so much potential, waiting to be unlocked after years of dereliction. #Drogheda #FestivalOfIdeas #DerelictIreland

Shocking to see the sheer amount of dereliction in Drogheda, Co. Louth. Here’s just one example: what is reputedly the oldest building in Drogheda. A protected structure at 43/44 West Street, this corner building contains fabric dating to about 1675. A carved stone plaque on the east elevation indicates that the structure played a part during the Battle of the Boyne and is therefore hugely significant to Drogheda’s history. The Battle of the Boyne was a major 1690 military engagement in Ireland that secured the English and Irish crowns for King William III over the deposed King James II. In my visualisation, the red blocks represent derelict and vacant sites around Drogheda, County Louth. Below is a webpage I built to highlight dereliction in Ireland, propose solutions, and showcase heritage buildings and structures at risk. The page includes quick facts, a summary, history and ownership, a dated photographic decline log, planning/enforcement history, vacancy/dereliction signals, reuse potential, recommended next actions, open questions, and sources. derelictsites.com/DB-238-No-… #Drogheda #Louth #Ireland #HousingCrisis #DerelictIreland #BuiltHeritage #HeritageAtRisk

On first glance you might be fooled into thinking this is a boarded up home It's actually an investment Someone is sitting on this while someone else is on the street struggling without a home That's Ireland in 2022 for you Greed rules Western Road, Cork City #DerelictIreland

Vacant since 2015, 22a Berkeley Road is a small, mixed-use commercial building on a short Victorian street between the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital campus and Phibsborough village, near St Joseph's Carmelite Church in Phibsborough, Dublin 7. It comprises a ground-floor shop with basement storage and a two-bedroom flat above, and is still known locally as the "Selections" newsagent. The building has been vacant since around 2015 and is visibly derelict inside and out. Although it was added to Dublin City Council's Derelict Sites Register in 2023, it was removed in March 2025 after the owners repainted the frontage and cleared graffiti and vegetation, a decision local residents have described as "disgraceful". They argue that only minor repairs were done, leaving the building still derelict and vacant, with the ground floor stripped out internally and levies remaining unpaid, despite the council's claims of improvement. In my view, under the Derelict Sites Act 1990, the site still qualifies, as it continues to detract from the amenity, character, or appearance of land in the neighbourhood, particularly because the property is located in a residential conservation area under the Dublin City Development Plan. Also, to discourage commercial buildings from being vacant for so long, councils need to stop the practice of offering substantial relief on commercial rates when a building is vacant. They need to make emptiness cost money. Abolish or sharply taper commercial rates vacancy relief after 12–24 months. When a viable building can sit empty for eleven years in the middle of a housing crisis, with no cost to the owner, the problem isn't the building. It's the rules. Below is a webpage I built to highlight dereliction in Ireland, propose solutions, and showcase heritage buildings and structures at risk. The page includes quick facts, a summary, history and ownership, a dated photographic decline log, planning/enforcement history, vacancy/dereliction signals, reuse potential, recommended next actions, open questions, and sources. ℹ️Research Page derelictsites.com/22a-Berkel… #Dublin #Ireland #Heritage #HeritageAtRisk #HousingCrisis #DerelictIreland

Well done @mariadonoghue24 & @SarahJBeasley1, this is something i've been saying for years. Business owners and landlords need to maintain their shopfronts and buildings. If they need help or incentives then the Council should be there to help and encourage them. All the public

Have a look at the derelict site in photo Cork City Council spent €599,143 on this last year Yep €599,143 on an empty site that they do not own Yes they do not own it It's our Non Event Centre Seemingly they are all the rage This is seriously #DerelictIreland

Wonder who is sitting on these? They'd make lovely apartments or studios, right next to Cork City centre Bus Station Sad to see them longterm wasted & decaying onto the streets, a dereliction wastelands #DerelictIreland

Why are these bonded warehouses in the Port of Cork being left rot? If the 'developer' plans to restore them you'd think it would make sense to protect them from the elements to stop the decay You'd think .. #DerelictIreland #HeritageMatters

Its an ideology issue People need homes + empty homes = People with a home Everyone should have a home in #DerelictIreland