1 in 4 Councils homes vacant and boarded up

1 in every 4 council homes across the country have been vacant and boarded up for over 12 months.

Freedom of Information figures show almost 3,000 housing units owned by the State are boarded up, with those in Limerick, Wicklow, Tipperary and Louth lying empty the longest.

Sinn Fein says the figures they obtained show a ‘shocking failure’ by government in funding local authorities.

TD Thomas Gould believes every homeless family could be housed in these void council homes.