Local Notes: Ballyhaunis bank project to be complete by end of year
Performing at a celebration for International Women's Day recently at the Community Hall in Ballyhaunis organised by the Le Cairde group were, from left: Ludmila Burcovschi, Marc J-R Dimayuga, Yuliia Makarchuk, Andrei Cristian Chiujdea, Anna Derkach, Breege Keogh Kenny. Picture: Marek Petrovic
The son of a former presidential candidate and Fine Gael minister is behind the redevelopment of the former Bank of Ireland building in Ballyhaunis. Austin Currie Junior is the chief executive of development company Sayvale, the listed owners of the former bank at The Square in Ballyhaunis.
Headquartered in Dublin’s financial district with offices in Ballsbridge, Sayvale has specialised in bringing non-EU investors into the Irish social housing market. On its website, Sayvale explains it is “growing relations with non-EU investors to deliver social and affordable houses in Ireland". It also says it is planning to complete the conversion of the bank building into six apartments by the end of 2024.
The company last year engaged building firm Achill Formwork and Construction Ltd to remove the internal fixings from the building in advance of renovations. The same construction firm renovated a former pub in Charlestown for Sayvale, turning the building into three apartments. Sayvale has also worked on the refurbishment of a former railway station building in Achill for housing.
Requests for comment from the company regarding its plans for the former Ballyhaunis bank property went unanswered.
A new survey showing that agricultural land prices slipped by 3% in 2023 across the country may be biased by a large sale of several thousand acres of hill land in Mayo last year, according to local auctioneer and land agent Gerry Coffey.
Speaking to this column from the launch of the annual land market report, Coffey said: “The per acre price was lower, thus dragging down the average price nationally.”
Coffey sees continued demand for farmland but says a new generation of government environmentally friendly farm schemes like ACRES (Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme) has led to a fall in farmland in the wider Ballyhaunis region being planted with forestry.
“Farmers see they can get paid more by reducing farming intensity and going on an environmental scheme than they might by planting their land," he said. “There are 100,000 fewer suckler cows in the country. The older generation of farmers exiting are being replaced by their sons who are usually part-time farmers with a day job. They want an easier life and are farming less intensively and availing of schemes like ACRES."
Another factor reducing the supply of farmland coming to the market - and thus holding prices steady – is a trend to long-term leases.
“These offer an alternative for families wishing to rent their farm without losing ownership – while also enjoying tax-free treatment on rent payments up to €30,000,” explained Coffey.
Budding apiarists wishing to get involved and experience beekeeping are invited to attend Ballyhaunis Beekeepers' Association’s beginner’s course on Saturday, April 13th and Sunday, April 14th in Clare Court, Ballyhaunis. There will be a charge of €75 to cover rent, demonstration equipment and a very comprehensive booklet on beekeeping.
The organisers explain: “You may register for the course by emailing us at ballyhaunisbees@gmail.com or through our Facebook page. Please note to comply with insurance requirements, you must be a member of Ballyhaunis Beekeepers' Association to attend this course.”
The Ballyhaunis primary care centre is a “mini national children’s hospital", according to local Aontu election candidate Paul Lawless, who is organising a public meeting on the fate of the unfinished centre on Wednesday, March 20th.
The Health Service Executive needs to show “urgency” to get work restarted on the site, which has been abandoned since 2021, said Lawless. He also blames the impasse on the lack of a local TD in this area “putting real pressure” on the HSE to get works restarted. Several TDs have tabled parliamentary questions to the Minister for Health on the abandoned project.
A dispute over costs appears to have stalled the project. The Ballyhaunis Primary Care Centre is one of a number of such sites nationwide mired in disputes over costs with several developers seeking higher rents (than those agreed) from the HSE to cover higher construction costs.
The HSE chose a public-private partnership model for delivering primary care centres, with the HSE agreeing long-term tenancies with private developers who build the centres. While 172 primary care centres had opened nationwide as of the end of November 2023 there are 40 more at various stages of construction. The developers of some of those sites are seeking higher rents from the HSE than those originally agreed.
In 2022, the HSE’s real estate management arm, HSE Estates, told this column that it was waiting on an updated programme for recommencement and completion from the developer behind the project, who would lease the building to the HSE if and when it’s completed.
“The developer is experiencing difficulty programming in subcontractors but is working on this and will inform Estates as soon as the programme is confirmed,” said the HSE at the time.
Paul Lawless believes the HSE is “not accountable to anyone” and says the Ballyhaunis project may have to be retendered, a messy proposition given works are partly completed.
Electric cars are becoming more common in the Ballyhaunis area, with a Chinese-made BYD model spotted recently in the town car park adjacent to the local library.
Locals are more willing to purchase electric cars because two issues – charging points and car driving range – have largely been solved, according to Kieran Sherry, head of the Kiltimagh-based Voltswagon, which installs electric car charging points for householders.
The BYD Tang model can drive 530 kilometers on a charge while new models in the €30,000 price range are now capable of running 350 kilometres on a single charge, said Sherry, who recently installed chargers at the homes of two Ballyhaunis customers.
Car makers like Volkswagen have “jumped on the bandwagon,” said Sherry.
“When I started out in 2017, there were 500 electric vehicles sold across the whole country in that year. Last year there were 22,500 sold.”
Things have also improved “significantly” on the public charging front, said Sherry. He outlined a series of chargers installed in towns and villages by the ESB with private enterprises like Aldi and Supermacs, as well as charging company EasyGo, also installing chargers to draw and facilitate customers.
Local homeowners and businesses are being invited to a special information event on how to cut energy bills and carbon emissions through better insulation and renewable energy systems.
Organised by the local Ballyhaunis Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) in conjunction with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the event on Saturday, March 23rd, will feature speakers on grants available to assist homes, businesses or community buildings to reduce their energy and heating costs.
While some local businesses (as reported in this column) saw their electricity bills treble in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Ballyhaunis households spend an average €3,600 per year on home energy, according to data collected in the most recent national census conducted by the Central Statistics Office.
Yet half of Ballyhaunis dwellings do not have a Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER), according to Census data provided by the SEAI. More than 96% of Ballyhaunis homes have substandard windows while most have substandard wall and roof insulation and less than 1% of local houses have a heat pump installed, explained Alma Gallagher from Ballyhaunis SEC, who will speak at the event on the extensive grant programme for home energy retrofits provided through Clár ICH where she works as manager.
The event is being hosted by Ballyhaunis Community Council at its premises, the Community Hall, which benefited from Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grants for external insulation and the installation of a heat pump heating system, both installed by contractors engaged by Clár ICH.
“There are measures that can be easily taken to help reduce energy or heating costs by making homes and buildings more energy efficient,” explained Ms Gallagher. “There is also significant funding available to those who want to take these steps.”
Other speakers at the event will be Dr Orla Nic Suibhne, a consultant for SEAI, who will provide details on SEAI’s home energy retrofit grants. Also speaking will be Dr David Connolly, CEO of Heat Grid Ireland who will outline some opportunities to reduce carbon emissions.
They will be joined by James Donnelly of Eco Heating Ltd who will provide information on the benefits of using heat pumps; Pat Lavin of Ecosmart will talk about the savings available through the use of insulation for homes and David Doherty of Switch to Solar will highlight how Solar PV can cut household energy bills. Test drives of electric vehicles will also be provided by Liam Rochford of Rochford Motors. The event runs from 12 to 2pm. For further information, call 087-2617124.
