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Irish Houses Bulldozed...

Bulldozers send boomtime buildings crashing down...

TWO unfinished houses that would have fetched €200,000 each during the boom have been bulldozed because of public safety fears.

The unoccupied houses -- and foundations for three more -- were levelled at Church View in Clongeen, Co Wexford, at a cost to the taxpayer of €28,000.

Other residents of the estate last night said they were relieved that Wexford County Council had taken action against the developers, Impulse Construction Ltd, by knocking down the houses.

They said the unfinished houses had attracted vandals and encouraged anti-social behaviour for some time, and were unsightly at the entrance to the estate. This was the first time houses had been demolished in a new estate in Wexford, but the Department of the Environment confirmed other houses had been demolished on a small number of occasions.

Wexford County Council confirmed it has more plans in the pipeline to carry out "public safety works which may involve some demolition". Chairman Oliver Walsh said the demolition was a "sign of the times".

Unfinished housing estates are a nationwide problem since the property bubble burst, particularly in the midlands and the north-west. The Department of the Environment assesses applications for demolitions on a "case-by-case basis".

In some cases, it is cheaper to bulldoze a house than to fence it off.

Report by Eimear Ni Bhraonain - Irish Independent

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