Cuirt Eigis in Ballybane comes alive in the summer, but the fate of 14 families living there has become a political hot potato, with local reps disagreeing on how best to assist tenants who must leave by the autumn.
With a big green outside, long-term resident Sinead (not her real name ) says her eight-year-old daughter loves summer when the paddling pools, slides, and footballs are out all evening, and nine children in the block of apartments, aged from new-born to a 14-year-old “get to play in the muck together”.
But this certainty and security of summer community is now gone for the 37 residents across 14 individual households in Cuirt Eigis who each received letters from their landlord’s agent last week, terminating their leases. The longest lease is thought to be almost 20 years old. Instead, says Sinead, a full-time working single parent, this summer will be spent searching for somewhere to live before school starts.
“This is absolutely insane. It’s unreal that 37 people can be kicked out at the same time – with no protection. All we can do really is persuade him into changing his mind.”
Their landlord is Cathal Shevlin, who runs the 45,000 square foot Shevlin Engineering steel works in Belmullet, Co Mayo. Mr Shevlin has successfully applied for planning permission to build four, one-bedroom apartments beneath the vaulted, 253sqm attic space of the two-story, pitched roof building, just off the Ballybane Road, essentially transforming it into a three-storey block of flats. Dormer windows and balconies are also envisaged for each new flat, which vary in size from 49sqm to 54sqm. He is entirely within his rights to terminate tenancies to undergo a major refurbishment of his property under new rental rules which came into force on March 1, as he was under the previous regime.
The Advertiser received no reply to enquiries sent to Mr Shevlin.
In the letter of termination, the landlord’s authorised agent, Fergal Leonard, lists seven refurbishments to the building, as part of a 44-item list of permanent and temporary works, for which permission has been granted.
“The reason for the termination of the tenancy is because the landlord intends to substantially refurbish or renovate the dwelling... in a way which requires the dwelling to be vacated for that purpose,” wrote Mr Leonard in the letter received by 14 families last week, seen by the Advertiser.
Many residents are on Housing Assistance Payment (HAP ) support, but as Cuirt Eigis rent is higher than HAP, they top-up payments in cash each month to the letting agent. Others are on RAS (Rental Accommodation Scheme ) where the local authority pays the landlord, and the long-term tenant pays the council 20 per cent of their weekly wage – up from 17 per cent last year. Others are private tenants.
“I just can’t believe that this can happen,” says Sinead. “We have no rights. There seems nothing we can do to stop this. These are our homes. One girl is 14 and her family has lived here for 19 years – she knows nowhere else.”
Political reaction
Tenants met local TD Mairéad Farrell on Monday this week. The Sinn Fein TD lives nearby, and TD John Connolly (FF ) with city councillors Alan Cheevers (FF ), Helen Ogbu (Lab ) and Aisling Burke (SF ) are also engaging, according to tenants. One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, says she is already searching online for a similar, two-bed flat in the area. “My rent will go up by 155 per cent,” she calculates. “That is not possible for me. Where will I go?”
Councillor Ogbu says a potential mass eviction event cannot be absorbed by Galway city, already struggling with a severe housing shortage and soaring rents. “Families cannot simply pick up and find another affordable home at short notice. There aren’t affordable options sitting idle in this city. When eviction notices arrive in large numbers, the consequences spread far beyond the households directly affected. The ripple effect is felt across the entire community,” she said.
“I am deeply alarmed at the news that 14 families have been served eviction notices in Cuirt Eigis on the Ballybane Road. This is the latest news of mass evictions happening across the state since the government’s new rent legislation passed,” says Deputy Farrell.
“When these rules were first mooted, I warned Galway government representatives that this would have a negative effect on renters across Galway. These eviction notices are a devastating consequence of government’s actions.”
City East councillor Alan Cheevers (FF ) has lambasted Sinn Féin’s response.
“I know its not politically correct, but I’m advising tenants to overhold until a solution is found,” says Cheevers, who is encouraging affected families to liaise with the Residential Tenancies Board, Threshold, and Galway City Council’s Housing Department.
“Mairead Farrell is making it political, getting on [the radio] with drama, drama, drama, and blaming the government, despite the landlord being entitled to move people out if he is refurbishing the building under existing rules, never mind new ones,” he said.
“The landlord – Mr Shevlin – is based in Belmullet, and the biggest vote getter there is [TD] Rose Conway Walsh, so why doesn’t Sinn Féin ask her to start up a dialogue? As usual, they are all big drama and noise, with no solutions.”
The Residential Tenancies Board will publish eviction figures for the final quarter of 2025 today, Thursday March 19, with up to 1,200 Notices of Termination expected for Galway during 2025. Official figures record 940 tenancy terminations across County Galway in the first nine months of last year.
