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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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The Forest, Ballymacool.
Donegal County Council has been urged to step in and examine the possibilities around the purchase of houses in a Letterkenny estate where families are facing eviction.
Last week, 19 families in The Forest estate at Ballymacool were served with eviction notices by their landlord.
The tenants were given until April to vacate their current accommodation. The landlord informed the residents that the houses are to be put up for sale.
The developer told the families - some of whom have been living in the estate for 18 years - that the eviction notices were served ‘due to changes in the company’.
The matter was brought up at Tuesday’s meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.
Letterkenny-Milford Mayor Kevin Bradley told the meeting that councillors in the area are working hard on behalf of the families concerned.
“If there's anything we can do we are here for them,” said Councillor Bradley.
Councillor Gerry McMonagle and Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh asked the council to consider buying the houses.
Councillor McMonagle said he believed some tenants would qualify for the Tenant in Situ Scheme, which allows Local Authorities to buy properties where tenants are facing eviction.
Councillor McMonagle said that the council is ‘still some time down the road from acquiring new houses’ and that it should seek to strike a deal on the Ballymacool homes at a ‘reasonable price’.
Councillor Kavanagh said: “I know everybody has their own circumstances, but I think we should be talking to the Department and see the possibility of buying.
“A lot of this is going to end up back on the council’s lap anyway. We are in a fairly unique situation in Donegal with defective blocks and we should be making our case because those families will have to be housed.”
Seamus Canning, Area Manager, Housing & Corporate Services told the meeting that the council would be happy to meet with tenants, but that the overall situation would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
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