Daft Property - Irish Property News

Cuffe backs demolition of some 'ghost' estates... NEW GREEN Party Minister of State for the Environment Ciarán Cuffe yesterday said the blame for unfinished, or “ghost” housing estates lay with “the ‘cargo cult’ of rezoning for all the wrong reasons” that drove development in recent years. In his first major speech since taking office last month Mr Cuffe said “selective demolitions will be a necessary part of the tasks required to tackle the legacy of one of the more unsavoury aspects of Ireland’s building boom”. Addressing the annual conference of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) in Tullamore, Co Offaly, he said: “I have no doubt that some loans that will come into the possession of the Nama will result in the demolition of badly designed buildings in inappropriate locations.” But demolition would not be the only option. “We now have to look quite realistically at the future use of unfinished estates and the needs of residents . . . It’s not as simple as sending in a bulldoz...