Mayo County Council’s in-house architects have been urged to prioritise a housing scheme on a derelict site at Barrack Street in Killala, Co Mayo, which the council acquired by compulsory purchase more than two years ago, a call that matters to building and architecture professionals because it highlights how design-team capacity features in delivering small public housing sites.

Councillor Jarlath Munnelly raised the issue at the October meeting of Ballina Municipal District, saying the architect team should prioritise the site.

Councillor Jarlath Munnelly said: “We procured architects externally for those jobs, and they are driving the projects along.”

Catherine McConnell, director of services for housing at Mayo County Council, said the architect team was aware of the site and working on schedules, that it forms part of the work programme over the next couple of years, and that some acquired sites, including Barrack Street, were particularly challenging.

Councillor Munnelly called for clearance work to begin this winter, warning that waiting until spring 2027 would be too late.

The councillor said external architects were procured for the Ballina schemes at the former Duffy’s Bakery and Cheshire Home sites.

The structural driver is volume, with chief executive Kevin Kelly telling councillors, as reported by the Western People, that the council has about 60 sites being advanced and that smaller sites have not moved as quickly as those delivering larger unit numbers.

For the sector, the timing matters because a separate derelict site at Market Street, Killala, bought in November 2024, is now planned for five units, which means two small Killala schemes are competing for the same design resources.

The Land Development Agency and the council have also taken a 140-home Ballina site to design phase, according to Mayo Live, adding larger work to the same authority’s pipeline.

The broader implication for the sector is that councils with many acquired sites are likely to split design work between internal teams and external practices, a pattern that gives smaller practices a route into modest housing commissions.

Source: Ireland Live / Western People / Mayo Live