Ukrainians move into modular houses in Claremorris

A MODULAR housing development in Claremorris which commenced construction in mid-December has now been occupied by Ukrainian refugees.

The Mayo News has learned that the 28 units were delivered at a cost of €145,000 per unit and are to be occupied by Ukrainian families of four who have been living in the Mayo area.

Some Ukrainian refugees from the nearby Western Hotel are among those who have moved into the development, which is situated on an OPW-owned site on the Ballyhaunis Road.

A source familiar with the development said that each house has a lifespan of 60 years and can be unbolted and removed to another location.

Residents will be made up solely of those fleeing the war in Ukraine and ‘will predominantly be women and children’. Garda vetting is not required.

Occupants are given the use of the houses as part of a year-long contract, which may be renewed on a case-by-case basis.

During this time, they must reside there for 50 of the 52 weeks of the year or they will risk losing their tenancy.

The site is one of the first such modular housing developments in the country and follows the opening of a similar development for Ukrainian refugees in Sligo.

These developments are exempt from regular planning rules on foot of an EU directive which designates the provision of modular homes as a ‘matter of extreme urgency’.

Guidelines

GUIDELINES for those living in the houses forbid them from keeping pets - bar certain exemptions - as well as smoking or vaping within the houses.

There is to be no more than one modular housing development in any county in Ireland.

According to the latest CSO figures, at least 425 Ukrainian refugees have resided in the Claremorris Electoral Area since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

Local county councillors Tom Connolly and Richard Finn had vowed to oppose the modular homes going ahead, arguing that they were in an inappropriate location. Cllr Finn branded the development as ‘a shanty town’ and threatened to lie in front of machinery to halt it.

A special meeting of Mayo County Council passed a motion opposing the construction of the development after it came to light last October.

It is understood that there has been little to no objection to the development among the locality since work commenced on the site in mid-December.

One local man said that there had been little communication between authorities and local people regarding the development.

“Nobody’s being told anything, so nobody knows anything about it.”

Another local source said that some locals would prefer to see permanent housing built on the site, which had received planning approval for 80 apartments.

“The only issue people had with it was that it was a shame that they didn’t build traditional houses on the site because they felt it was a good site, prime site and that a better house on it would have a longer life.”

Local county councillors and representatives of local groups met with government officials regarding the development on June 16.

It is understood that the erection of modular homes will act as a pilot scheme for the use of modular homes to deal with the country’s broader housing shortage.

Yesterday (Monday), there were 25 houses listed on Daft.ie for rent in Mayo, where the average price of a house now stands at €190,000.

NOT OPPOSED

CLAREMORRIS-based councillor Tom Connolly said he would not be opposed to seeing modular housing used to alleviate the ongoing housing shortage in Mayo.

“We have a housing crisis. I wouldn’t be against modular homes being used for housing people that are homeless or staying in hotels as a temporary accommodation until more secure accommodation can be sourced,” Cllr Connolly told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday).

Cllr Connolly insisted that the Claremorris area had taken ‘more than our share’ of Ukrainian refugees and said better consultation would be needed with communities taking in refugees.

“I have got phone calls from councillors in different counties and the same thing; no consultation, nobody told what’s happening. These modular homes are imposed on people,” he said.

“You need consultation not confrontation and that’s what we wanted but we didn’t get that. We were imposed the site because it wasn’t owned by Mayo County Council.”

The Fine Gael councillor reiterated that he was opposed to the location of the modular houses and not the housing of Ukrainian refugees.

Two other local sites had been suggested for modular housing for Ukrainians; one owned by Clár IRD and the other owned by Mayo County Council.

The houses situated on the chosen site are the property of the Department of Children, Equality, Disabilities, Integration and Youth.

“We do appreciate the war that is going on in Ukraine but there are other war-torn countries that people are trying to flee and get into a better life. In Claremorris, I can’t say what’s around the country, we feel that we have taken our fair share and if everyone takes their fair share there wouldn’t be any difficulties,” said Cllr Connolly.

The Ballyhaunis Road site was purchased by the state in 2004 and had been mooted for new government buildings as part of the ill-fated civil service decentralisation.

The government aims to erect 700 modular houses in 16 sites across the country to house Ukrainian refugees.