The fact the derelict Corrib Great Southern Hotel is still standing is “the embodiment of years of Government inaction on housing”.
This is the view of Sinn Féin Galway West TD, Mairead Farrell, who raised the issue of the controversial derelict site in the Dáil on Wednesday.
The Corrib Great Southern Hotel was deemed derelict 6 years ago and has been slated for demolition for 11 years. In 2010, planning permission was granted to demolish the current structures. In 2015, the site was added to the derelict site register.
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“Despite this, it is still standing,” said Dep Farrell [pictured above]. “We’re stuck with this eyesore in one of the most prominent locations in the east of the city.”
In 2020, the Galway City Council issued Statutory Orders to the registered owners of the former Corrib Great Southern, the former Connacht Laundry site, and former Oasis venue in Salthill, using its powers under the Derelict Sites 1990.
'At a time when we have people who can't find an affordable home, we cannot afford to have lands like this lying idle in Galway'
The orders required the demolition of the buildings to ground level and that works be completed within a specified time frame. However, the council had to postpone demolition works due when the Level 5 restriction came in.
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Dep Farrell said the site, if demolished, could, and should be used for development of social and affordable housing, and student accommodation. “At a time when we have people who can't find an affordable home, and massive housing waiting lists, we cannot afford to have lands like this lying idle in Galway,” she said.
The TD is calling on the Government to commit to reviewing the vacant site levy and to make it a “more effective tool” to end the persistence of derelict sites. In response, the Minister for the Environment, Eamon Ryan, admitted the vacant sites levy has not delivered the scale of urgency or action required, and that it needs to be part of the housing strategy.
