Eight households in Caislean Thorlaigh, Doughiska, are seeking urgent political intervention after receiving notices to leave their homes.
The tenants include single-parent families, children with additional needs and people with serious medical conditions. They say a proposed council purchase of their apartment block could have allowed them to stay.
Eight families living in Caislean Thorlaigh in Doughiska, Galway, received Notices of Termination on 2 October, requiring them to leave their homes by late April or May 2027.
The residents include two single mothers with school-going children, families with children who have additional needs and people living with serious medical conditions.
The tenants have appealed for urgent intervention from elected representatives, saying the loss of their homes would also mean losing access to the schools, healthcare, jobs and community supports they rely on.
Correspondence seen by the Galway City Tribune indicates that the landlord had been prepared to sell the 12-apartment block to Galway City Council. The proposed purchase could have allowed the eight households to remain in their homes.
However, the correspondence says Galway City Council informed the landlord in September 2026 that it was withdrawing from the purchase under the Tenant in Situ scheme, citing “an over saturation of social housing in the Doughiska area”.
Tenants say purchase could have protected eight families
The Tenant in Situ initiative allows local authorities to purchase private rental properties in certain circumstances where tenants are at risk of homelessness after a landlord decides to sell.
The tenants say acquiring the Caislean Thorlaigh block would have kept their eight households in their homes while also giving the council four vacant apartments.
Four of the block’s 12 apartments are reportedly vacant.
“By acquiring the block, the Council would not only save eight well-established families from homelessness, but would also immediately gain four turn-key, vacant properties to house other families currently on the emergency waiting list,” a spokesperson for the United Tenants of Caislean Thorlaigh group said.
The residents say they cannot understand why the council withdrew from the proposed purchase, particularly given the vacant apartments and the risk that the existing tenants could lose their homes.
The council’s stated reason, as quoted in the correspondence, was an “over saturation of social housing in the Doughiska area”. Galway City Council’s full explanation and response to the tenants’ appeal were not included in the information provided.
Families say uncertainty has lasted almost three years
The latest notices follow an earlier period of uncertainty. The residents say they first received notices of termination in November 2023.
They describe living with anxiety and fear about their housing situation since the end of that year.
“Since the end of 2023, we have been living in a permanent state of severe anxiety, extreme uncertainty and constant fear for our future, which has taken a drastic toll on the mental health of both adults and children,” the group said.
Some of the families have lived in the Doughiska community since 2011. They say they are established members of the area and that moving would disrupt the everyday supports their households depend on.
“We have lived in this community for many years and we are fully integrated, active members of the local area,” the spokesperson said.
Residents say their homes are tied to local support networks
The tenants say remaining in Doughiska is especially important for households with children attending local schools and for residents who depend on established medical and community supports.
“Doughiska is our home. Everything we need to live is here: our children’s schools, our doctors, our jobs and our long-established community support network,” the spokesperson said.
The group says the prospect of losing their homes places an additional burden on residents already dealing with serious health conditions or caring responsibilities.
“The extreme stress of facing homelessness is an unbearable and destructive health burden on these vulnerable individuals,” they said.
The residents are asking for their circumstances to be considered as the council reviews its decision.
Tenants seek review before apartments go on the market
The United Tenants of Caislean Thorlaigh group is calling for an urgent review of the council’s decision and a meeting with elected representatives.
The tenants say the landlord intends to list the properties on the private market if Galway City Council maintains its refusal to purchase the block.
“If Galway City Council upholds its refusal, the landlord will list the properties on the private market, and this window of opportunity to save our homes will be permanently lost,” the group said.
The notices require the families to leave by late April or May 2027, according to the information supplied. The tenants are seeking intervention before the opportunity to acquire the block disappears.
The central issues now are whether the council will reconsider the proposed purchase, what will happen to the eight occupied apartments and whether the four vacant units could be brought into use.
Galway City Council’s response to the tenants’ request, and whether any alternative arrangements are being considered, were not included in the material provided.
