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One in five Sligo shops are empty - but locals insist the town hasn't 'gone to hell'

The western county has the highest rate of vacant units in the country.

SLIGO’S MAIN URBAN hub has one of the highest rates of vacant commercial units in Ireland, but locals say it is far from becoming a ghost town.

According to a recent report by buildings database GeoDirectory, Sligo county has the highest rate of vacant properties in the country, with 18.7% of units empty.

Sligo town featured in the top-10 most vacant urban locations in Ireland, with nearly one-quarter of units empty at the end of 2017.

In recent months, two big retail chains – Next and Flying Tiger – announced in quick succession that they would be exiting Sligo.

Certain locations, particularly High Street, have been left largely vacant for years after a plan to develop property on the street’s upper end was stalled following the crash.

geodirectory table GeoDirectory GeoDirectory

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Owner of Café Fleur and ex-Sligo Chamber of Commerce president Des Faul describes the area today as “a bit of a disaster zone” and “a no-man’s land”. He has counted 16 empty units on the street.

But he’s quick to point out that business in Sligo town doesn’t appear to be suffering, despite the high vacancy rate.

“I’m not pessimistic about the future of Sligo whatsoever,” he says.

Faul says the likes of upper High Street and a large, dilapidated unit on the main O’Connell Street – which has been deserted for about eight years – somewhat “skew the figures”.

“You don’t drive around town thinking, ‘This street has gone to hell,’” he says.

Locals have had trouble identifying the owners of vacant units but some are convinced financial firms are hoarding buildings in the hope that property prices will continue to rise.

Independent councillor Declan Bree claims there are “banks, building societies, people who are fairly wealthy” sitting on units in prominent parts of town.

Bree is compiling a list of property owners and hopes to see the local authority penalise them through the tax system.

“I believe we should be imposing rates on empty buildings. If the building isn’t being used, encourage property owners to rent out their buildings,” he says.

While derelict sites can be subject to a 3% levy, only those properties assessed as being in a “ruinous”, neglected or debris-strewn conditions qualify for the penalty.

‘Dilapidated’

Sligo Chamber CEO Aidan Doyle believes legal issues may have prevented some sites from being made available for rent – a short-term problem, he says.

A number of retailers have moved into larger premises in other parts of town while their existing leases are still in place “which is restricting onward sale”, he says.

But Doyle’s former chamber colleague, Des Faul, says there’s little point in trying to find new tenants for many of those units.

“Let’s call a spade a spade; they’re not going to be used as retail units. They’re not suitable for modern retail,” Faul says, noting that many premises are old-fashioned ‘mom and pop’ shops.

“The units that are empty in town are generally dilapidated, old stock from the 1920s, 1940s. They all need to be stripped out and started again,” he says.

Faul thinks the properties should be repurposed for housing, which he says is more badly needed than extra retail space, especially with two large shopping centres in the town.

“Every single day, loads of people drive into Sligo town,” he says. “Our domestic population is out of town and our jobs are in town.

“We need more people living in town. In order to do that, we need to increase the housing stock. One way to do that would be to get these old retail units back into residential. That’s the future.”

It’s also hoped that a long-awaited council plan to give O’Connell Street a facelift will help enhance the town centre and create “a vibrant core”, according to Doyle.

“Hopefully delivery of that will begin by the end of this year and it will take 12 months to complete,” he says.

O’Connell Street was closed to traffic from 2006 to 2009 but re-opened on a one-lane basis thereafter. Sligo County Council ultimately hopes to pedestrianise it again.

In the meantime, it plans to widen the footpaths and provide better street furniture for punters.

Faul agrees that the main-street improvement plan – which has yet to be finalised – should help give the town a boost: ”I’ve been hearing about this since 2005, we opened in 2007. Finally, we’re actually getting the work done.”

Tourism

In addition to the O’Connell Street works, business owners say a newly launched, five-year tourism strategy for the county could also revitalise quieter streets in Sligo town.

Fergal Quinn, who owns a number of pubs and nightclubs and co-founded Hen and Stag Sligo, thinks additional business from tourism would help bring life back to the more dilapidated parts of town.

“I personally think tourism is going to be a massive contributor to Sligo going forward,” he says, adding that the region’s association with poet WB Yeats hasn’t been “fully capitalised on”.

“There is a lot of work going on to position us in the same way Stratford-upon-Avon is a Mecca for Shakespeare.”

Unsurprisingly, Faul – who sits on the board of Sligo Tourism – also believes visitors would help encourage overall development in the town.

“Things are turning around. There are 450 tourism-related businesses in Sligo as it is … It’s something we can do for ourselves,” he says.

“It is about being more positive about Sligo. We know how attractive it is; we’ve just been underselling it.”

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Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute DaMoons
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:07 PM

    Again, the media pedal the Government story on average income being 51k. The most accurate statistic includes in the same report showed the median income (which represents 90 percent of the population) being less than 24k per year. A hell of a distance from the 51k figure the Journal and government are spinning.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:47 PM

    @DaMoons: while I agree there is a discrepancy, the figure quoted above is household income compared with your figure of individual income. Household income often combines 2 or more individual incomes as it is calculated based on total income divided by number of households, and not individuals.

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    Mute DaMoons
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:15 PM

    @Brian Ó Dálaigh: Well, 2 incomes from the 90 percent quoted above still wouldn’t reach 51k. So it obviously points to 3rd and 4th earners living in the same household. Would it be a stretch for me to suggest that it is probably down to adult children not being able to afford somewhere to rent? FG were so proud of this statistic this week. Think about it.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Nov 30th 2019, 9:00 PM

    @DaMoons: I’d say you’d be pretty bang on the money (no pun intended) with that comment. The slightest bit of analysis into the figures and you’d wonder why Fine Gael would be proud of it. And, remember, these are average figures and not median figures which would far more accurately reflect the reality for the vast majority of people.

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    Mute Manbackonboard
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:03 PM

    Constantly broke.

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    Mute StillNotNews
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:00 PM

    @Manbackonboard: Same, Keep the recovery going, For TDs.

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    Mute SC
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:06 PM

    With an average rent of 24k and childcare for one child 12k, that is just about enough for a small family. It’s not enough for two children.

    And assuming that’s the median, half of households have less. Is it any surprise we have a birth rate below replacement now?

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    Mute Finbarr Barry
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:20 PM

    @SC: and they are quoting disposable income… I. E income after all expenses such as mortgage/rent, utilities et. Etc are paid…. What a load of BS

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    Mute Finbarr Barry
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:23 PM

    @Finbarr Barry: https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/cso-figures-show-mean-disposable-income-is-now-almost-23000-967144.html

    CSO figures show average disposable income in 2018 was €23,000; 9.6% up on 2017

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    Mute Sos
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:32 PM

    @Finbarr Barry: disposable income is income after government tax has been paid. Discretionary income is income after bills have been paid. Given the very high cost of living here I would expect that to be a lot less.

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    Mute Peter Hughes
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:42 PM

    @SC: I’m delighted, we deserve it we keep voting for it……keep the rippoffs going lads there are legions of suckers who are stuffing your pockets full of cash and keep voting for you……dumb is an understatement.

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    Mute SC
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:24 AM

    @Peter Hughes: the government has no power to interfere with the economy because it goes against EU rules in most situations (we can’t borrow to boost housing stock, we can’t subsidise rural industry to take pressure off the cities and keep our language alive etc) so it doesn’t make a difference who you vote for.

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    Mute keano
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:37 AM

    @Finbarr Barry: no Finbarr I believe disposable incoming is your Income after Tax. Before Rent, mortgage, heat, light, etc etc. which would make it a lot more realistic figure and nothing to be proud of !

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    Mute Anastasia
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:06 PM

    Spin spin spin the average wage is 20000 euro for a 38 hour week or am I working in the wrong place

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    Mute DaMoons
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:36 PM

    @Anastasia: 90 percent of the people working in Ireland earn less than 24,000. This figure from the Government is pure spin.

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    Mute Brian Clancy
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    Nov 30th 2019, 9:06 PM

    @DaMoons: that’s rubbish anyway for a start

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    Mute John fitzpatrick
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    Dec 2nd 2019, 8:57 AM

    @DaMoons: so you are saying 90% are on minimum wage? Or are you saying that a huge portion of people are part time. What are you saying. What ever your saying it’s BS. But go , keep on plugging the SF agenda, 13% of the people believe you.

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    Mute Harry Trafford
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    Nov 30th 2019, 10:36 PM

    I work 50+hours a week. I’ve a wife and 2 kids. Council house and a car loan, I’m sure like alot of other houses. All I see is the weekly shop getting more expensive, insurance through the roof, more taxes. I’m not seeing any recovery around here. I’d dream of have 51k disposable income. I call bs on the whole thing. This ff fg government are a joke and need to be shown that we are done being fed lie after lie and tax after tax.

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    Mute Ro-your-nan
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:43 PM

    All the poor-mouths on here – every pub in the country always seem rammed with people swallowing their disposable incomes down their fat necks. Drink less Irish-alcos and you might feel a little better off. Now I’m off to the pub

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    Mute SC
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:26 AM

    @Ro-your-nan: I don’t think spending a few hundred a year on drink and a few hundred on electronics explains why people can’t afford ten thousand for childcare or 24k for rent… And my car insurance has nearly doubled even though I’ve never even had a penalty point so we’ll all be paying another grand for that soon enough.

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    Mute Ro-your-nan
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    Dec 1st 2019, 1:11 PM

    @SC: move out to Wicklow and don’t have a kid and you’ll be grand. Reckon people are dropping easily €10k a year (€200 per week) on booze. Look at all the snowflakes eating / drinking in town but they can’t save for a deposit.

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:28 AM

    ..well somebody must have disposed of my 51k without me seeing it !

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    Mute Michelle Keeley
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    Dec 1st 2019, 8:20 AM

    https://www.thejournal.ie/rish-workers-earn-an-average-of-e23-an-hour-4677090-Jun2019/

    According to the CSO, the average full time wage is approx €48000 and average partime €17000.

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    Mute Luap
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    Dec 1st 2019, 9:41 AM

    51k DISPOSABLE income? Hahahaha

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