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!
Market House in Naas
A historic Naas property could be converted into apartments near the centre of the town..
The Market House, located at the Grand Canal harbour has been derelict for many years.
Now local councillor Seamie Moore wants Kildare County Council to avail of funding made available for the compulsory purchase of vacant derelict buildings in places classified as “regeneration areas” - to create new accommodation.
He was supported by a majority of the councillors on the Naas Municipal District.
He said if converted into apartments the site would provide housing for some of those seeking to be accommodated in Naas.
“We have been complaining about this (site) and nothing has happened for 20 years,” he said, adding that while various plans were put forward including to provide a hotel and apartments, nothing has happened.
He said the money is available to buy it to provide accommodation and this should be done given the availability of funds.
Cllr Evie Sammon said that the property should not just be necessarily for housing.
Cllr Anne Breen said the council had done nothing for years as the property, a protected structure, was neglected.
According to Kildare County Council official Veronica Cooke, money is available to enable residential and mixed-used development to be delivered within some existing towns.
Ms Cooke said Naas is one of five towns in Kildare that meet the required criteria for this
funding. She also said the next development will be to identify suitable sites and buildings across the five towns “with a focus on reducing vacancy and dereliction in the five town centres.”
She said this could be considered alongside the preparation of a plan for the redevelopment of part of the town.
Ms Cooke said the building could be attractive and KCC will work with all interested parties on any redevelopment plan.
Cllr Bill Clear said the building is in a key location and is for sale “at a very high price.”
He said it should be bought by KCC and it could be put to various uses.
He said that Naas Tidy Towns has maintained the property by painting it and some people think NTT owns it.
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.
