'Taj Mahal' of dereliction in Mayo town

Castlebar councillors have cricisised the HSE for allowing a prominent building to fall into a “disgraceful” condition.

The HSE owned Hill House at Mountain View has become an eyesore in recent years and local councillors have called on the organisation to take action.

Cllr Geere Deere highlighted the issue at a meeting of Castlebar Municipal District.

“It’s deplorable,” said Cllr Deere.

“It’s letting the whole town down,”  he commented.

“It’s an absolute disgrace. The HSE should be ashamed of themselves,” said Cllr Blackie Gavin.

He said it would take little effort to bring the building up to scratch.

“It’s shocking. All it takes is a lick of paint. It’s not good enough,” he added.

"It's a scandal," said Cllr Cyril Burke. He said if the HSE is not prepared to utilise the building it could be turned into apartments.

Mayo County Council did not escape the ire of the council for letting local authority owned buildings fall into a state of disrepair.

“We are the biggest culprits ourselves,” said Cllr Deere.

He cited a privately owned derelict building on Ellison Street that has been painted by its owner while 20 yards further up the street, Mayo County Council owned properties remain eyesores.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne said the buck stops with the Chief Executive of Mayo County Council.

“There is a lot of dereliction around the town. I don’t think thre is a commitment from the Chief Executive to deal with derelict houses in the town,” said Cllr Kilcoyne, He said the council come down hard on private owners, “yet the same council owns the most derelict buildings in the town.” Cllr Harry Barrett said dereliction is a blight in the county town and there is a lack of will to deal with the problem.

“We have a major issue with certain sites in the town that are just let go without consiequences,” said Cllr Barrett.

He christened one prominent derelict property on the Newport Road, “The Taj Mahal of dereliction in Castlebar.”

There are 29 Castlebar buildings on the derelict sites register.

There are potential plans for the long-vacant Imperial Hotel and buildings on Ellison Street but local frustation continues to grow over the pace of progress.