Irish property prices are ~50% of what they used to be ever since the financial crisis in 2008. Outskirts of Dublin, Cavan, Donegal, Roscommon, and Longford features ‘ghost estates’ that has more than 50% of the houses unoccupied. Shannon Valley Estates is one of the more extreme examples, where the majority of the homes were never sold and sat empty for many years. To combat this problem, the Irish government gave funds to local counties to fix these empty developments, which resulted in many empty lots as most of these houses were teared down. Despite the efforts of the government, this did not improve the lives of those that already inhabit these neighborhoods, and prices did not recuperate. The Irish housing market is slowly gaining back momentum, however, as time goes on. Perhaps one day these lots will be developed once again, since the infrastructure for it has already been put in place.

      Many locals describe driving past these empty developments is an eerie experience: half constructed houses line the sides of the roads, and construction debris can be seen all around; yet, there are no human activities at all. “Its almost like a post apocalypse movie.”

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