TIPPING POINT

We were promised Ireland’s new Grafton Street, but instead got a boarded up ghost town where vandals have taken over

• Published: 7:00, 17 Aug 2023

A SHOPPING street in the heart of a once-thriving market town lies derelict with all but two retail units boarded up.

Decaying Market Place in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, is a ghost town with 20 busy retail units just a distant memory as vandals run riot.

Rosemary Donovan is one of the last two standing, her Book Market shop surviving the cull which has dismayed the people in the town of over 17,000 people.

She told The Irish Sun: “When Market Place opened it was thought it was going to be our version of Grafton Street. That was never going to happen.”

A street which sold during the Celtic Tiger boom for €4million was listed for sale ten years ago for just a quarter of that — with 18 units eventually going at a distressed auction for €920,000.

Businesses have closed one after the other while

Clonmel Mayor Richie Molloy blames the developers and is making dereliction his number one priority.

He told us: “The development of Market Place is owned by a private company and that really ties our hands. The council has been in communication with the owners.”

Market Place was once the bustling site of commercial activity with Superquinn as its anchor tenant and upmarket shops including fashion outlets, a shoe shop, a sports store, a travel shop and many more operating successful businesses there.

But all that remain are the Book Market and a hairdressers, whose premises are owned by individuals and were not sold in the package deal when the street was purchased the Dublin-based Remcoll Group.

Patience is running out among the Clonmel population and the Town Council members who believe the company has not done enough with the properties.

Cllr Molloy believes that pressure must be put on Remcoll to start developing it.

He said: “We have no idea what Remcoll’s plans are for the area but I am not adverse to them seeking planning to revamp Market Place and redevelop it with residential and commercial units.”

He added: “The level of vandalism that was happening, particularly this year, was of concern. Hoarding was put up after windows were smashed and there was unauthorised entry into some of the premises.”

Cllr Molloy believes unless the council takes action and gets the local artists group involved in decorating the hoarding, there will be an increased level of unsightly graffiti and vandalism.

At the beginning of August the 42nd Infantry Platoon conducted military operations in urban training at Market Place to prepare soldiers for operations at home and overseas.

It wasn’t meant to be that way.

‘SOCIAL IMPACT’

Remcoll, who did not respond to a request from The Irish Sun for a comment, states on its website: “We are working to make a social impact in Ireland”.

It has over 3,500 units at various stages of design, planning and construction and have homed 3,000 people in the past few years.

Rosemary has been running the Book Market since 1995.

She said: “When I moved to Market Place the area was vibrant and thriving with Superquinn and the other businesses attracting a large footfall there.

“The development of Market Place was a regeneration project and as a result rates were not levied on businesses for the first ten years. But when they were introduced the cost was way too high and in excess of thousands more that the businesses were worth.”

The council took almost a decade to revalue the rates imposed but by then it was too late.

Businesses that couldn’t afford to pay closed down one by one resulting in the area being put on the market for a mere €1million.

‘HIGH RENT’

She said: “Businesses started to close one by one due to high rent and rates and the recession.

“The death knell sounded when SuperValu, which took over Superquinn, decided in January 2016 to pull out as they already had another supermarket operating in a different part of Clonmel. Then Covid hit and that was truly the end of the place.”

Rosemary has a strong and loyal client base for which she is very grateful. She offers services including sourcing out of print, rare and speciality books, as well as school books and popular reads.

Rosemary would not be adverse to Remcoll developing the site with a residential element included, saying it is the perfect location for a mixed development.

She said there were grave concerns over the level of vandalism which included breaking of windows, break-ins, anti-social behaviour and even setting of fires but that things have improved since the hoarding went up.

Ireland is in the grip of a dereliction and vacancy crisis, and not just for housing.

VACANCY VENUES

At the end of 2022, 14 per cent of all commercial buildings were vacant, with over 29,000 empty units. Sligo was the worst hit at just under 20 per cent, closely followed by Galway and Donegal, according to GeoDirectory stats.

Among towns, Shannon in Co Clare has a vacancy rate of just under 30 per cent, meaning almost a third of its commercial buildings are empty.

Edgeworthstown in Longford and Boyle in Roscommon are both hovering around the 28 per cent mark.

Greystones in Co Wicklow and Gorey in Co Wexford are best performing, on just over seven per cent commercial vacancy.

Market Place is not the only place of concern in the heart of Clonmel as the town’s main hotel, the Clonmel Arms, which closed 17 years ago, continues to be an eyesore and a target for vandals.

Because of the lack of care, the building’s floors and ceilings started to fall in, making it a dangerous building.

It’s understood the hotel has finally been sold and is a target for a progressive development.

Many believe the development of out-of-town shopping centres and hotels has taken the heart and the spirit out of local rural town centres.

‘BLIGHT ON TOWNS’

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said: “Vacant and derelict sites blight our town and cities.

“They must be tackled if we are to bring our urban centres back to life and address the housing ­disaster. Land is a finite resource.

“Properties which are left vacant for a prolonged period should be compulsorily purchased and local authorities should be resourced to do so.

“The Government has implemented a vacant homes tax of three times the local property tax — that is welcome.

“However, it does not go far enough. For bigger, corporate owners who are speculating on property, taxation is not enough.