A Garda forensics photographer recording images of the search site on the Kildare / Wicklow border (Photo: Niall Carson / PA Wire)
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19 Feb 2026
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19 Feb 2026
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Minister for Housing James Browne cuts the ribbon on the new housing development in Mulranny last September
Minister for Social Protection and Rural and Community Development Dara Calleary will mark a significant day for housing in County Mayo on Friday, 27 February, turning the sod on eight separate developments and officially opening a new housing scheme across multiple locations throughout the county.
The Mayo TD will begin his day in Ballina at 9.30am with a sod-turning ceremony at a new housing development on the Killala Road, on the site of the former Cheshire Home. He will then return to the town at 10.15am to officially open Church Manor, a completed housing development that forms part of the day's announcements.
In total, the day's events will see 17 new homes formally opened and sod turned on developments that will deliver 125 additional houses upon completion — a combined contribution of 142 homes to Mayo's housing stock.
READ MORE: Council told to to start delivering more houses in west Mayo
After Ballina, Minister Calleary will travel south to Ballyhaunis, where he will turn the sod on Phase Two of the Abbeyquarter development at 1.30pm, before heading to Claremorris for the official opening of the Mount Street housing development at 2.15pm.
The afternoon will continue with the opening of the Cross West housing development in Cross at 3.45pm, before the Minister makes his way to Ballinrobe for what promises to be a packed schedule. Four separate events are lined up in the town, beginning with a sod-turning at the Castlebar Road development at 4.45pm, followed by ceremonies at Creagh Road at 5.15pm, Main Street at 5.45pm, and finally Convent Road at 6.15pm.
READ MORE: Mayo County Council approve opening up 195 hectares of land for housing development
The announcement builds on significant progress made in 2024, which saw the completion of a 50-unit scheme at Bog Gate Demesne in Westport, 16 units at Murrveagh Close in Mulranny, and an award-winning nine-home development in Carnacon. Further units were also delivered at Cross West, Ballyvary, Church Manor Ballina, and Lower Charles Street in Castlebar before the year's end.
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