Council defends demolition of houses in Moyross

Limerick City and County Council has defended its decision to demolish houses in the Moyross area. This follows claims by local priest Fr Tony O’Riordan the council’s policy was “sinful”.

Fr O’Riordan said last month more than 400 houses in the Moyross estate had been demolished and there would not be enough homes built to replace them.

Calling on the Government to impose an immediate moratorium on all demolitions, Fr O’Riordan said: “The policy of demolishing houses in Moyross and other parts of Limerick might have had some justification seven years ago when the promise was to replace demolished houses with new builds,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the council said there are “strategic demolitions planned due to strategic planning reasons”. She said the demolitions “can generally be characterised as being necessary due to improvements to and reshaping of the physical environment”.

The spokeswoman also defended the council’s measures on homelessness.