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 Sunday Property Round-Up 19th April 2026

 Sunday Property Round-Up 19th April 2026 

Weekly Irish property market news and insights – for the industry, by the industry

While our peers across the water saw monthly construction insolvencies in England and Wales exceed 300 in February, Irish commencements  – up 184% – are under scrutiny, so we are monitoring the vital signs of the Irish industry closely.  It now appears that 2024/2025 projects were rushed to register ahead of levy changes; not all are progressing. Is output being overestimated?

There’s no room for complacency here.

It was a particularly busy week of industry events and gatherings across planning, construction/MMC, infrastructure and placemaking, so rather than rehashing the press releases from each of those, your Sunday Property Round-Up this week features some of the highlights and grounded insights from behind the scenes – in fact, there’s more of a ‘WHAT YOU WON’T SEE IN THE HEADLINES’ feel to our updates this week, including:

*INFRASTRUCTURE: “Nobody should have the right to delay progress…”

Ahead of the passage of Minister Jack Chambers’ Critical Infrastructure Bill through Seanad Eireann, Leader of the Seanad Sean Kyne addressed members of Galway Chamber to discuss this ‘PIVOTAL” legislation to accelerate delivery of key projects, and acknowledging previous “false dawns”, he broke down what the two most recent announcements – go-ahead for Galway’s long overdue ring road, and the extension of Galway Harbour – mean for the region.

In major manufacturing news, an Oranmore site has been confirmed within Minister Peter’s Burke’s ‘Next Generation Sites’: https://breakingground.news/government-backs-next-generation-industrial-sites-to-secure-global-investment-pipeline/

TRANSPORT: At the same event, Mary Considine, Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann, and Caroline Kelleher,  Director of Public Affairs with The Shannon Airport Group, explored what a joined-up transport and regional strategy for Ireland means.

On the development front, once again, Cork is leading the Property District Development Heat Map this month, just behind Dublin, which continues to dominate.

RESIDENTIAL: With balcony safety and performance back in the Irish media this month, we heard from Nick Haughton, Director with Sapphire Balconies and Member of the UK Construction Industry Task Force (pictured below with Infrastructure Minister Jack Chambers at the recent National Construction Summit) who pointed to a familiar problem — design, compliance and maintenance still sit in silos. That gap carries risk.

On delivery, Denise Doorley, Development Manager of Oaklee Approved Housing Body was clear:  funding models and timelines are misaligned. Social and cost rental cannot scale under current conditions.

My personal placemaking highlight — particularly in light of Census 1926 data becoming available [https://ipropertyradio.com/census-1926-records-released-offering-new-insight-into-how-ireland-was-built/] — was getting the latest from the North Western Regional Assembly Data Dashboard from John Daly. 

MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION: At European level, Pat Kirwan of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism steps into the Presidency of the European Association for Industrialised Construction. Ireland now has a stronger voice in MMC. It will need it.

DATA CENTRES: At the Data Centre and Critical Infrastructure forum, Digital Infrastructure Ireland’s Garry Connolly bluntly demonstrated what Ireland stands to lose, after of decades of progress dating back to the humble floppy disk.

RENEWABLES: Offshore and coastal development continues to gather pace. The latest Project Marine update confirms progress on DMAP and ongoing stakeholder engagement. Opportunity is significant. Coordination will determine outcomes.

🥇 Finally, iProperty Radio was unveiled this week as #1 in the ‘Best Ireland Construction Podcasts’ list by Feedspot so huge thanks to everyone who turns up, participates and/or tunes in every week — your support over the past seven years means everything 🙏

📧 All stories are covered in full within this week’s Sunday Property Round-Up on iProperty Radio, powered by Property District – now the largest weekly newsletter BY and FOR Ireland’s real estate and construction industry. If it’s not in your inbox yet, email carol@caroltallon.com to receive a copy.

PROPERTY DISTRICT PRESS OFFICE 

Below are the local and international stories that might be of particular interest: 

  • COST RENTAL delivers rents nearly 30% below market as ESRI confirms affordability gains: New microdata analysis highlights strong value for tenants but points to need for regional expansion and policy refinement
Cost Rental delivers rents nearly 30% below market as ESRI confirms affordability gains
  • HOUSING commencements surge 184 percent in early 2026 as Dublin dominates delivery: March figures show sharp monthly growth while pipeline strengthens to over 21,800 homes on rolling basis
Housing commencements surge 184 percent in early 2026 as Dublin dominates delivery
  • GOVERNMENT backs next generation industrial sites to secure global investment pipeline: Three large-scale, pre-permitted sites to be delivered as part of plan-led strategy for high-value manufacturing sectors
Government backs next generation industrial sites to secure global investment pipeline
  •  IRELAND’S housing pipeline undermined by late-stage procurement: Early engagement failures, rising costs and policy changes slowing delivery across approved housing bodies
Ireland’s housing pipeline undermined by late-stage procurement

If you missed last week’s round-up, you can catch up here: https://ipropertyradio.com/sunday-property-round-up/ 
As always, you might let me know if I have missed out on any relevant property news by emailing carol@caroltallon.com 

PLACEMAKING: https://placeengage.com

Open public consultations and community engagement, in association with the Public Consultation Institute of Ireland

  • Beautiful – Sustainable – Together: Aligned with Aarhus Convention transparency and New European Bauhaus principles, PLACEengage empowers communities, planners, and developers across Ireland’s public and private sectors to collaborate more effectively — Learn more at www.PLACEengage.com PLACEengage: Better placemaking, together.

Rural, Coastal & Islands

CONSTRUCTION: https://breakingground.news 

Breaking Ground News: Appointments & Construction Careers

  • BGN Construction Careers, your weekly newsletter from Breaking Ground news, keeps you updated on the latest job opportunities, while showcasing the very best employer brands and projects, across Ireland’s construction industry. Whether you are looking for your next role or planning your career path, stay connected with us for new openings, upskilling opportunities and industry news. Get all the latest job 

details straight to your inbox: Sign up https://breakingground.news/sign-up-form/

PODCASTS:

Housing Delivery in Ireland: Design Standards, MMC & the Viability Challenge

Ireland’s housing challenge is no longer just about supply. It is about whether the system can actually deliver at scale.

In this episode of Breaking Ground, host Carol Tallon is joined by Pat Kirwan of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism, Denise Doorley of Oaklee and Nick Haughton, of Sapphire Balconies, to examine what is happening on the ground as design standards, policy and cost pressures collide.

A few points stood out:

• Projects with planning are being delayed or redesigned to meet new standards
• Viability remains the deciding factor. If it doesn’t stack up, it doesn’t get built
• Standardisation is still misunderstood, yet essential if we want scale
• Procurement is lagging behind innovation in construction methods
• Early engagement across the supply chain is still the exception, not the norm

There is no single fix here. But the gap between policy ambition and delivery reality is becoming harder to ignore.

If we are serious about increasing output, we need to align design, funding, procurement and construction much earlier in the process.

If you are trying to deliver residential projects, you won’t want to miss this practical discussion.

Listen back: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3bwMnew08d10WK2bV2g6GS?si=iijcwb-_QGyiBI_m60fQSQ

Watch back: https://youtu.be/FOcp0stNldc?si=VkNHGkJ04EVm8_x9

CIF Safety Campaign 2026 Podcast 

Recorded on sites across Ireland — from a European HQ in Dublin’s Docklands, to the largest Capex energy project in the State — catch up  the entire 2025 & 2026 series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5hAEpymn6vnhCbgSqe6T8TJTfB9mvD6C&si=ity7U_ANvSSyc0bU

REAL ESTATE: www.irishrealestate.news

Residential 

*Searching for a new home or investment property in Ireland? Join the iProperty Radio FACEBOOK community of property buyers in Ireland 2026: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IrishPropertyBuyers/ 

Commercial 

  • Office vacancy rates: Dublin’s busy office market isn’t broken, the interpretation of data is — Andrew Cunningham of Savills Ireland outlines why the recent figure of 18.6% office vacancy rate tells the wrong story about what’s really happening on the ground in Dublin https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/commercial-property-7014607-Apr2026/
  • Music legends set for Limerick as Dolan’s announces new gig venue: Live at the Spiegeltent Pavilion set to prove a unique, warm, and atmospheric venue in the heart of Limerick https://www.limerickleader.ie/#

iProperty Radio: Property Round-Up

Ireland’s Planning System: “If we continue as we are, we will fail utterly to meet our targets” 

“We can’t even agree on the numbers… but what we can agree on is that we have a major challenge.”

Tony Reddy of Reddy Architecture & Urbanism talks about the incoming Urban Development Zones (UDZs) and a fresh approach to plan-led development. He acknowledges reforms underway but cautions that further planning improvement is needed: “More like Europe, and less like Britain”

Concluding: “If we continue as we are, we will fail utterly to meet our targets.”


Watch back:  https://youtu.be/7mlfX2IcuWs?si=udq7WWzSH70k5saJ

Housing Insights: The Housing Agency Podcast

This practitioner-led series aims to deepen the public’s understanding of housing in Ireland and highlight the work of The Housing Agency.

Hosted by David Silke (Director of Insights & Operations) and Roslyn Molloy (Head of Policy, Practice & Communications), the podcast features insightful interviews with housing experts.

 

🎙️ Links to all episodes at https://ipropertyradio.com/housing-agency/

PROPTECH, CONSTRUCTION TECH & SMART CITIES: https://prop-tech.ie/

Proptech Ireland is updating the database of 2026 Irish technology providers for the built environment – sign up here: https://prop-tech.ie/register/  and email product or service details to hello@prop-tech.ie

  • Proptech Ireland: Ireland’s CONSTRUCTION and REAL ESTATE ESG technologies resource hub. Confused about how and where to start on your ESG journey? Contact us 👉https://prop-tech.ie

PODCAST: The Proptech Hot Seat on iPropertyRadio.com

NSAI: Modern Methods of Construction Certification 

Martin Searson, Head of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Certification within the National Standard Authority of Ireland (NSAI), takes iProperty Radio through the certification process for construction manufacturers innovating novel building systems for the Irish market. 

Martin shares the latest data around the number of manufacturers on the island of Ireland, and the marked increase in certification applications from outside of Ireland and outside of the EU. 

*Check out the NASI MMC Toolkit https://www.nsai.ie/certification/agrement-certification/modern-methods-of-construction-certification/mmc-toolkit/ 

📽️ Watch now – https://youtu.be/UXhjM0pPbNc?si=J5aX4DudT2pf_W57 

🎧 Listen back – https://open.spotify.com/episode/43GYfHyKprqt9WKEo932R2?si=a54jSgg-R6ipPnZgaTOnyQ 

*Produced by Katie Tallon MPRII, with Hear Me Roar Media on sound

Proptech Hot seat is sponsored by Proptech Ireland, the hub for innovators, investors and industry leaders https://prop-tech.ie/ 

Produced by Katie Tallon, with Hear Me Roar Media on sound https://hearmeroarmedia.com 

All Proptech Hot Seat episodes –  https://ipropertyradio.com/proptech-hot-seat/ 

INFRASTRUCTURE, ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT & BIODIVERSITY

  • Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has revealed the preferred route for a light rail service in Cork, to run from Ballincollig in the west of the city to Mahon Point in the east. TII estimates that the project will cost in the region of €2bn to €3bn and could be operational within 10 years https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2026/0417/1568659-luas-cork-route/ 

INTERNATIONAL 

Picture of Carol Tallon

Carol Tallon