STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
The entrance to the site where 28 modular homes are nearing completion on the Ballyhaunis Road in Claremorris
A CLAREMORRIS housing development once labelled as ‘Putinism’ by a county councillor will be housing Ukrainian refugees in the coming weeks.
Mayo County Council’s Director of Services for Housing, Tom Gilligan, confirmed that work was progressing at the site, which is located on the Ballyhaunis Road in the town.
Work commenced on the OPW-owned site on December 14 and will accommodate over 100 Ukrainian refugees in 28 units when work is completed.
The development was met with ferocious opposition from local county councillors Tom Connolly and Richard Finn when it first came to light last October.
Both representatives argued that there were more appropriate sites in the locality and expressed concerns about the lack of housing for local people.
Cllr Connolly (Fine Gael) said that the development would go ahead ‘over my dead body’ while Cllr Finn (Independent) threatened to lie in front of the machinery to halt it.
Cllr Finn branded the development as ‘Putinism’ when speaking on radio shortly after the development emerged.
Separately, Tom Gilligan confirmed that the council were ‘still working’ on plans to house up to 150 Ukrainian refugees at Áras Attracta nursing home in Swinford.
Mr Gilligan first mooted the proposal in an interview with this newspaper in late December last year.
“That hasn’t progressed as much as I’d like, to be honest,” Mr Gilligan told The Mayo News
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
