Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
The once-pristine home is currently uninhabitable
A couple from Castlebar, County Mayo face a huge bill to refurbish their rental home after it was left in a derelict state by unscrupulous tenants. That was the stark message delivered at Wednesday's Castlebar Municipal District meeting when Councillor Ger Deere said the situation was nothing short of disgraceful.
The issue was raised during a broad discussion on housing in the district and Cllr Deere said the incident highlights the precarious situation many private landlords find themselves in.
The house, which has been visited by The Mayo News, is in an unlivable state and initial estimates calculate the refurbishment will cost at least €50,000. Cllr Deere told the meeting the situation was almost beyond belief.
“This couple work tirelessly to invest in the house as a pension for later in life and now they're left devastated. They feel utterly helpless. The people renting the house didn't pay rent for three years, Three years – can you imagine that? Not only that, the place was left in the worst state. How can this be allowed?
“The couple had to go through the courts time and time again to get the tenants out and that alone caused huge tension and many sleepless nights. The house was in pristine condition when it was rented out and maintained perfectly. Now it's in an awful state.
“I've been to the house and it's an absolute shambles. Not only is the house in bits, and upstairs destroyed from flooding, the amount of rubbish accumulated there had to be seen to be believed. Three skips have already been filled by the owners and there's still more to go. I just don't know what to say about it.
“One thing I'd love to know is where is the deterrent for tenants who destroy people's property. They are being housed by the state now and will be in line for social housing going forward but will any of this be taken into consideration. Where is the deterrent,” he asked before all other councillors backed up his comments in a wide and passionate discussion.
A full report and an interview with the homeowner will appear in Tuesday's edition of The Mayo News
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
