Business
€13m worth of homes sold in just two weeks
More than €13.5 million worth of residential property was sold in Galway city and county in the first two weeks of February – up by almost two-thirds on the same period in 2014.
A total of 75 properties were sold during the 14-day period – up from 61 from the same fortnight last year.
An analysis of the Government’s official Property Price Register by Tribune Property shows the shows that a total of more than €13.5m worth of residential properties were sold in the city and during the two weeks – that’s up from €8.3m during the comparable period last year (up 62%).
The headline sale was the stunning seven-bed Victorian castle, Tulira Castle in Ardrahan, which was purchased by technology millionaire Niall Turley for €5.8 million, “lock, stock and barrel”.
The register records the sale price as €2.2m because it excludes the 265 acres of land and contents.
Not only was the castle itself – including the original tower from the 1500s, courtyard buildings and the Victorian castle – restored to its former glory, but the grounds are beautifully maintained.
The property is surrounded by two acres of landscaped gardens, an ornamental lake and an orchard with a ruined original greenhouse as well as a walled garden with a large stone fountain, greenhouse, pergola, herb and vegetable gardens. There are a further 265 acres of mature woodland and parkland.
Another prominent sale was a stunning, architecturally-designed detached house at St Claire’s on Taylor’s Hill – probably the city’s most expensive address.
The four-bed house had been on the market for €675,000 and sold for €659,000.
In this regular feature, Tribune Property publishes property sales figures for the city and county using data scraped from the Property Price Register, and modified to include (where available) a brief description of the property and the initial asking price.
In a small number of transactions included in the Register, the price shown does not represent the full market price of the property concerned for a variety of reasons. All such properties are marked with asterisks.
In a very small number of cases, properties may be declared as purchased in exchange for other property, stocks and shares, etc. If the property is a new property, the price shown is exclusive of VAT at 13.5%
For the full listing of sales, including original asking prices, see this week’s Tribune
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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