Councillor extends sympathies to the Dunleavy family

Issued : Thursday 9 June, 2016

Labour councillor Niall McNelis described the blaze as a “terrible tragedy” and expressed his sympathies to the Dunleavy family.

“First of all I’m glad that nobody was hurt in the incident, that’s the most important thing, but the loss of property is also terrible for the owners. I feel very sorry for the Dunleavy’s - that was their life, their soul, their whole business and walking past it every day for the last number of years would have been tough enough to see it boarded up.”

Cllr McNelis acknowledged there are “a number of derelict sites in Salthill” at present, and that regeneration and rejuvenation is needed in the area.

“Unfortunately we’ve had a downturn in the economy in the last number of years but now in the last two years it has picked up so there is interest in a lot of properties out there now.

He added that a study is currently being conducted by the Whitaker Institute of Innovation & Societal Change at NUI Galway in relation to the amount of empty units in the city.