Important, derelict house in Offaly village is sold by County Council

AN important, derelict house in Shinrone village has been sold by Offaly County Council.
The recent monthly meeting of the Council was told that under Section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001 the house, located on Main Street, had been sold for €140,000.
Cllr Peter Ormond welcomed the news. “This is an important property,” he remarked. “It's old Canon John Hannan's house. It's a fine building and it used to be the Parish Priest's house. It has been empty for many years, since the mid noughties. Sadly, it went on fire a couple of years ago which caused significant damage.” He congratulated the Council staff for compulsorily purchasing the property earlier in the year. “I hope we will soon see this fine house being lived in.”
Councillor Ormond said this is the second of two derelict buildings in the village which have been sold. He said five other properties in the village have been placed on the Derelict Sites Register by the Council and the Council is going through the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process with those five.
There are 21 vacant dwellings in Shinrone, several of which are derelict.
Cllr Ormond said the CPO process can be long and drawn out. “It took two years to get to the CPO stage with the former Parish Priest's house,” he pointed out. “We need to speed up the process of tackling the significant vacant dwelling problem in the county; because there are so many people looking for houses and there's a big number of vacant dwellings in the county. The process is too long. 18 months is the shortest time to get through the CPO process. It can cost €10,000 to undertake it.”
He pointed out that, apart from the three main towns in Offaly, there is an unacceptably low level of housing being brought into service. “The problem is acute in our villages. In villages like Shinrone and Moneygall there is basically no new buildings of any sort being brought into service. During a housing crisis this is not acceptable.”
Cllr Eleanor Clendennen also welcomed the news that the building had been sold. “It is great to see derelict buildings being CPO-ed, because it will lead to more life being brought back into villages and towns.”
“The good news,” commented Director of Services Andrew Murray, “is our CPO level is on the up and we are unlocking more of these properties around the county.”
Cllr Ormond asked that the €140,000 accrued from the sale be put back into creating further improvements in Shinrone. Mr Murray said this wouldn't be possible. The meeting was told that the money will probably be put into projects in Tullamore town. Cllr Ormond said this was regrettable, because villages like Shinrone need the funding more. Cllr Noel Cribben agreed.
Cllr John Leahy said the number of vacant buildings in Shinrone is worryingly high.
The Council's Vacant Homes Officer has surveyed 856 vacant homes in Offaly, 395 of which are now labelled as being either vacant or derelict. There are 174 vacant dwellings in Birr Municipal District and 78 are in Birr Town. Of the 174 vacant dwellings, 26 are derelict. 186 applications have been received from members of the Offaly public since the beginning of the Vacant Homes Refurbishment Grant.
Canon John Hannan was Parish Priest of Shinrone for a number of years. He featured in an RTE programme "Life in a rural community" in 1964.
For the Council, “derelict” means “visually obtrusive”; whereas “vacant” dwellings look OK but but no one is living in them.
Cllr Ormond also pointed out that while there are several derelict buildings, Shinrone's appearance has improved in recent years. “A lot of good work has been done by people employed under the Community Employment scheme and by members of the Tidy Towns committee. New footpaths have also been constructed, overhead cables have been undergrounded and traffic calming measures have been installed.”

READ NEXT: Offaly school to celebrate 50 years of historic amalgamation