Mission Statement
"It shall be the duty of every owner and occupier of land, including a statutory body and a State authority, to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become or does not continue to be a derelict site" (Derelict Sites Act 1990).
Cities are a living archive of all the hands, tools, and machinery that have built them. Every building, sidewalk, and street holds the memories of the people that have inhabited, ran on, rolled on, or in any way existed in those spaces.
As of February 2025, more than 14,500 structures (residential and commercial) in Dublin City are vacant. More than one-fifth of these properties - around 3,000 - have been 'unoccupied' for more than four years (Kelly). This is not a new issue. But as the housing crisis continues to worsen, the impact of these structures' decay grows more and more severe. In 2026, Simon Community reported that 17,308 individuals are residing in emergency accommodation across Ireland. Of these, 12,317 are living in Dublin - a 12.5% increase from 2025 (Kenny). These numbers are only a fraction of people currently experiencing homelessness, as it does not include people couch surfing, rough sleeping, seeking asylum, awaiting eviction, squatting, or in domestic violence shelters.
Why are there so many empty buildings when so many people need homes? Housing being treated as an investment rather than a basic human right gives rise to speculation. This means that keeping buildings empty with the hope of future purchase, demolition, and 'regeneration' is often more profitable for landowners than having people actually live in these structures. The longer a building is neglected and left empty, the more derelict it becomes, and the more its built heritage devolves into rubble.
In 1990, the Derelict Sites Act was passed in an attempt to minimise the number of derelict structures across Ireland. In essence, the Act mandates:
2. If a property is included on the Derelict Sites Register, the landholder must pay an annual charge of 7% of the structure's market value (with 1.25% interest if unpaid). This value is calculated when the property enters the register and is revalued every five years. Holding landholders financially accountable is complicated by "title difficulties, probate issues, owners with personal difficulties, [or] a lack of finances," and it is often that this levy goes unpaid until the property is sold; as the seller must pay the debt prior to the sale's conclusion (Kelly).
3. That the relevant local authority or the State has the legal right to complete a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) on derelict, dangerous, and/or abandoned properties. CPOs are legislated as a "reasonable step," in ensuring these properties are returned to use (The Oireachtas). But CPOs don't stop dereliction, as many properties purchased by local authorities are left stagnant and continue to decay after the purchase process is complete.
The Vacant Sites Register was established with similar intentions in 2015, as part of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act. Sites on the Register are also mandated to pay a levy of 7% of the land's market value per year. Of the 33 sites on the Register, three are valued at over 10,000,000e.
The Derelict and Vacant Sites Registers are necessary public information. But they do not represent the extent of dereliction in Ireland, as far from every derelict site has been formally recognised and listed by the relevant local authority. Additionally, viewing a list of numbers and addresses on an Excel Spreadsheet does nothing to visualise the catastrophic losses of architectural, social, and industrial heritage that result from vacancy, neglect, and dereliction. As of the 31st of March, 2026, the Derelict and Vacant Sites Registers list 170 sites across Dublin City. Of these, five (25 Aungier Street, 10-13 Conyngham Road, 162-165 James's Street, 23 James's Street, and 355-361 South Circular Road) have Protected status under the Planning and Development Act 2000. Even more are listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. And yet, they continue to decompose.
I created this Digital Mapping project to visualise the extent of 'recognised' dereliction across Dublin City. Mapping illustrates the geographical and informational relationships between derelict sites, and prompts users to examine why and how these relationships exist; both historically and in the present. As the housing crisis continues to worsen, projects like this serve to interrogate the power imbalances between capital, planning policies, occupation, and ownership that result in the neglect, ruination, and ultimate loss of Dublin's architectural heritage and living spaces. Ultimately, I hope this project prompts viewers to reconsider how they think about and occupy urban space.
P.S., join CATU!
About the data:
The data points were synthesised from Dublin City Council's Derelict Sites Register and Vacant Sites Register. I reformatted the data into two Excel Spreadsheets. These were imported to Google My Maps and adjusted point-by-point to ensure accurate location data. The data columns 'notes,' 'past use,' 'future use,' 'architectural significance,' and 'works cited' - as well as all photographs, unless otherwise stated - are my original work.
Works cited:
Kelly, Olivia. 'More than 14,500 Properties Are Vacant across Dublin.' The Irish Times, 8 Feb. 2025, https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2025/02/08/more-than-14500-vacant-properties-identified-in-dublin-city-centre/.
Kenny, Catherine. 'Homelessness Rises against a Backdrop of Rising Notices of Termination as Dublin Simon Warns the System Is at Capacity.' Dublin Simon Community, 27 Mar. 2026, https://www.dubsimon.ie/dublin-simon-community-statement-on-february-2026-homeless-report.
The Oireachtas. Derelict Sites Act, 1990. 27 June 1990, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1990/act/14/enacted/en/html.