BREAKING: Multi-million euro Limerick farm of land purchased for council

MAYOR John Moran has struck a deal to purchase 70 acres of prime land through his mayoral funds for Limerick City and County Council.

The property at Attyflin on the edge of Patrickswell went sale agreed this week for a figure in the region of €4m or around €57,000 per acre.

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Around 21.5 acres are zoned enterprise and employment with the remaining 48.6 acres zoned for agricultural use. 

The lands are immediately adjacent to Patrickswell Enterprise Centre, M20 and N21 road network and the Limerick-Foynes railway. It was being guided at €4,725,000 by the selling agents.

Mayor Moran’s purchase of the "key strategic site” has been welcomed by local Fianna Fail representatives - Cllr Fergus Kilcoyne and Minister of State Niall Collins.

Cllr Kilcoyne said when this property went on the open market he immediately contacted Mayor Moran. 

“We met in Patrickswell, walked the village and viewed the property. We discussed the merits of the council acquiring the lands and using it to address the many competing demands and requirements for new housing, business, a new train station, a park and ride facility, enterprise and community facilities including a large scale playground in Patrickswell,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.

He continued: “I want to see the development of affordable housing for local people and couples. We need to provide a mix of housing options including the purchase of affordable new build houses and also the option for local first time intended home owners to acquire a serviced site from the Council upon which to build a home.”

Cllr Kilcoyne said Patrickswell has huge potential and “we need to harness this and the purchase of this key strategic site now gives us the opportunity to achieve so much”.

Mr Collins said the purchase of this significant landbank by Mayor Moran demonstrates huge foresight and ambition for Patrickswell which “I fully share and support”. 

“The opportunity now to further develop Patrickswell must be planned and managed so as to achieve the best outcome for the local community. I am calling for an ambitious ‘masterplan’ to be developed to ensure the sustainable development of the site to meet the local community needs and demands,” said Mr Collins.

He said he will ensure that a proper local public consultation will take place whereby local people and community groups will be centrally involved in making this “masterplan”. 

“The development of this strategic site must and will be a strong working partnership between the Government, Limerick City and County Council and the local community. I look forward to being centrally involved in this project for the years to come to ensure the best outcome for Patrickswell,” concluded Mr Collins.

Mayor Moran said he was pleased to confirm that Limerick City and County Council, supported by a significant multi-million euro commitment from his discretionary Mayoral Fund, has begun a formal process to purchase a significant site in Patrickswell. 

He said the 70 acres will be used to build a whole new neighbourhood-led expansion of the village, which will soon have to be  called Patrickswell “town”. 

Mayor Moran said this could accommodate 1,000-1,500 new private and public homes for purchase and rent, as well as amenities for all of the village. 

“This will be located in the heart of the village on the train line to Adare/Foynes and the motorway. I want to be fully transparent – this is a bold investment of circa €4 million that will represent a substantial portion of the Mayoral Fund budget for 2025. 

“However, it reflects what I have said from before I was elected and since I have taken office: housing isn’t just a priority – it is the priority. We need to be ambitious, to believe in our future and to do things differently to resolve the current crisis,” said Mayor Moran.

One of the key next steps, he says, is making these lands attractive for the private sector to build much needed private housing. 

“To that end, once contracts are signed, I will be making a full masterplan a priority. This will involve an intense consultation process with local residents and community groups. 

“While the investment is significant, it is also a vote of confidence in the community of Patrickswell – one that I know from growing up there is well up to the challenge of being one of our new growth towns. 

“I as mayor, and Limerick City and County Council as a local authority, are both committed to providing homes and neighbourhoods where people want to live, that are connected to family, friends, work, schools and other important facilities and services. 

“I want to thank Cllr Kilcoyne in particular for spending time with me on the ground to open our collective eyes to the potential of these lands, and offering early support to me if the purchase was something I could pursue.”

Mayor Moran said this announcement rounds off a big week in their “hard work and action in attempting to address Limerick’s housing deficit”. 

“We’ve had the green light for the Moyross train station to proceed to planning, intended to unlock lands for housing. I signed a contract to begin the construction of new homes in Ardagh. 

“SMART Housing modular prototypes, which have been championed in the More for Limerick mayoral programme, are to begin showcasing at Arthur’s Quay for members of the public to view. The modular homes are designed for 1-2 person households, who currently represent over half of Limerick’s housing need, and to help reduce the burden of ever-rising rents which have risen by 61% since 2018. 

“While it is not a silver bullet and will not be a solution suitable for everybody’s circumstances, it is a solution that will work for some, thereby opening up even more housing supply elsewhere for others.” 

The mayor said they are definitely aware that the purchase of this land in Patrickswell, and the homes they intend to eventually build on it, will, again, only meet the needs of some, but not all. 

“I am committed to driving on until all the pieces are in place. All of these steps are pieces of a jigsaw that we are putting together that has one overall aim: solving Limerick’s housing crisis. This announcement is only the beginning. I am committed to driving on until all the pieces are in place. 

“I have finished meetings today about Limerick’s future with Minister Jack Chambers, Minister for Public Expenditure. The speed and ambition we’re deploying in Patrickswell shows the value of the Directly Elected Mayoral role to allow us to face that future with a greater confidence.”