I am pleased to confirm that Limerick City and County Council, supported by a significant multi-million euro commitment from my discretionary Mayoral Fund, has begun a formal process to purchase a significant site in Patrickswell.
The lands will be used to build a whole new neighbourhood-led expansion of the village, which we’ll soon have to start calling Patrickswell “town”.
The site measures approximately 70 acres. This could accommodate 1,000-1,500 new private and public homes for purchase and rent, as well as amenities for all of the village. This will be located in the heart of the village on the train line to Adare/Foynes and the motorway.
I want to be fully transparent – this is a bold investment of circa €4 million that will represent a substantial portion of the Mayoral Fund budget for 2025.
However, it reflects what I have said from before I was elected and since I have taken office: housing isn’t just a priority – it is the priority. We need to be ambitious, to believe in our future and to do things differently to resolve the current crisis.
One of the key next steps is making these lands attractive for the private sector to build much needed private housing. To that end, once contracts are signed, I will be making a full masterplan a priority. This will involve an intense consultation process with local residents and community groups.
While the investment is significant, it is also a vote of confidence in the community of Patrickswell – one that I know from growing up there is well up to the challenge of being one of our new growth towns.
I as Mayor, and Limerick City and County Council as a local authority, are both committed to providing homes and neighbourhoods where people want to live, that are connected to family, friends, work, schools and other important facilities and services.
I want to thank Cllr Kilcoyne in particular for spending time with me on the ground to open our collective eyes to the potential of these lands, and offering early support to me if the purchase was something I could pursue.
This announcement rounds off a big week in our hard work and action in attempting to address Limerick’s housing deficit.
We’ve had the green light for the Moyross train station to proceed to planning, intended to unlock lands for housing. I signed a contract to begin the construction of new homes in Ardagh.
SMART Housing modular prototypes, which have been championed in the More for Limerick mayoral programme, are to begin showcasing at Arthur’s Quay for members of the public to view.
The modular homes are designed for 1-2 person households, who currently represent over half of Limerick’s housing need, and to help reduce the burden of ever-rising rents which have risen by 61% since 2018.
While it is not a silver bullet and will not be a solution suitable for everybody’s circumstances, it is a solution that will work for some, thereby opening up even more housing supply elsewhere for others.
Indeed, we are definitely aware the purchase of this land in Patrickswell, and the homes we intend to eventually build on it, will, again, only meet the needs of some, but not all. I am committed to driving on until all the pieces are in place.
All of these steps are pieces of a jigsaw that we are putting together that has one overall aim: solving Limerick’s housing crisis.
This announcement is only the beginning. I am committed to driving on until all the pieces are in place.
I have finished meetings today about Limerick’s future with Minister Jack Chambers, Minister for Public Expenditure. The speed and ambition we’re deploying in Patrickswell shows the value of the Directly Elected Mayoral role to allow us to face that future with a greater confidence.
More for Limerick.
