A CLARE town has the fourth highest commercial building vacancy rate in the country according to a new report.

Some 26.2% of commercial buildings in Kilrush are vacant the latest Geodirectory report has indicated.

Shannon has a vacancy rate of 23.9% with only seven towns across the country having a higher rate. The figure for Ennis was 18.1%.

Kilrush and Shannon were the towns with the highest vacancy rate in all of the 21 towns surveyed in Munster. 

GeoDirectory was jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) to create and manage Ireland’s only complete database of commercial and residential buildings.

The figures are recorded through a combination of the An Post network of 5,600 delivery staff working with OSi. 

The report showed that Clare as a whole had a vacancy rate of 15.2% in the last quarter of 2021, very slightly lower than the 15.2% figure seen at the same time in 2020.

Speaking following the release of the latest report, economist Annette Hughes said, “Our analysis in previous reports has shown a clear divide in terms of commercial activity on the east and west coast.

“This trend remains visible, however commercial vacancies increased in 15 out of 26 counties last year.

“Dublin recorded the second highest year-on-year rise in commercial vacancies, second only to Laois, both in the Leinster region.

“I think the most interesting statistic is the over 29,000 vacant commercial units across Ireland. When combined with our over 90,000 vacant residential units in our Residential Building Report published in January, this suggests that there are almost 120,000 vacant buildings, a good proportion of which could potentially be returned to commercial, community or residential uses on the streets of towns and cities across the country.”

By Owen Ryan