The number of derelict buildings in Dublin city has increased by almost 80% in the last four years.
Dublin City Council’s Derelict Sites Register, which tracks properties in the capital that have fallen into a dilapidated state, shows a jump from 74 at the end of January 2021, to 131 in July of this year.
However, the local authority has now taken ownership of Neary’s Bar and Hotel on Parnell Street, a building that has been derelict for so long one elderly inner-city resident says he barely remembers it as a functioning business.
“I only vaguely remember it to be honest, I couldn’t tell you much about,” he said.
“I’m in my 70s, and from the inner city, and I would remember it more the way it is now, than when it was a workplace. I notice dereliction a lot in the city. I walk around a lot, and I see it everywhere.”
Asked what he would like to see the property repurposed as, he said: “We need to turn it into flats for people to live in. Not another hotel, Ireland has enough of those. Accommodation is what we need most for sure.”
Dublin City Council has said that there are currently 131 properties on its derelict sites register and it currently has no plans to acquire any more.
However, co-founder of the Derelict Ireland movement, Dr Frank O’Connor, has said that the number does not reflect the reality of dereliction in the capital.
“You’ll find there’s a huge inconsistency across the country in terms of how local authorities tackle dereliction,” he said.
“From our work across the country, we generally find that the recorded numbers of derelict properties are far lower than the actual number, and from the data we have collected, Dublin is no different.
“We see so much dereliction in Dublin, and it has a huge impact on the community. They lose out on the potential that property could offer to the area. I don’ think there has been the cultural or political will to tackle the issue for the last number of decades, but that is starting to change. If you chat to people on the street now, they want change.”
Change may be made possible through a new statutory instrument called a Special Purpose Vehicle.
Green Party Councillor for Dublin’ North Inner City, Janet Horner, explains how it can be employed to combat dereliction in Dublin.
“The Special Purpose Vehicle is proposed as part of the Taoiseach’s Task Force recommendations, but it really comes from Dublin City Council as an idea.
“Essentially, it provides for the creation of a development company, wholly owned by the city council,” she said.
“Because it’s a development company, it’s allowed to do things a little bit differently than the city council would be empowered to do. For example, it would to be able to acquire properties outside of the Compulsory Purchase Order process.
“It enables the council to take risks in relation to derelict properties in a way that it otherwise wouldn’t.”
“If you look around the wider O’Connell Street area, along Abbey Street, Parnell Street and Marlborough Street, there are significant derelict and vacant sites there and that is a prime place where the city council needs to be intervening and actually acquiring those properties.”
Dublin City Council has said that almost €9.9 million in fines for dereliction are outstanding in 2025, and Cllr Hornet said that is something that needs immediate attention.
“It isn’t easy to chase these things and pursue them to the courts, but it is really necessary,” she said.
“We have to be using that power to the maximum the potential of the city. Dublin needs to be alive and derelict sites are antisocial to the city.”
