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The New Ruins of Ireland? Unfinished Estates in the Post-Celtic Tiger Era

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  • Rob Kitchin
  • Cian O'Callaghan
  • Justin Gleeson

Abstract

In the wake of the global financial crisis, and as Europe's financial and fiscal woes continue, Ireland's beleaguered economy has attracted a great deal of scrutiny, with much made of the country's status as one of the PIIGS and the fact that it was bailed out by the troika of the IMF, EU and ECB in November 2010. Whilst most attention has been directed at Ireland's banks and the strategy of the Irish government in managing the crisis, substantial interest (both nationally and internationally) has been focused on the property sector and in particular the phenomenon of so-called ‘ghost estates’ (or, in official terms, unfinished estates). As of October 2011 there were 2,846 such estates in Ireland, and they have come to visibly symbolize the collapse of Ireland's ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy. In this essay, we examine the unfinished estates phenomenon, placing them within the context of Ireland's property boom during the Celtic Tiger years, and conceptualize them as ‘new ruins’ created through the search for a spatial fix by speculative capitalism in a time of neoliberalism. We detail the characteristics and geography of such estates, the various problems afflicting the estates and their residents, and the Irish government's response to those problems. In the final section we examine the estates as exemplars of new ruins, the remainder and reminder of Celtic Tiger excess.

Suggested Citation

  • Rob Kitchin & Cian O'Callaghan & Justin Gleeson, 2014. "The New Ruins of Ireland? Unfinished Estates in the Post-Celtic Tiger Era," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 1069-1080, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:38:y:2014:i:3:p:1069-1080
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1468-2427.12118
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Honohan, Patrick & Donovan, Donal & Gorecki, Paul & Mottiar, Rafique, 2010. "The Irish Banking Crisis: Regulatory and Financial Stability Policy," MPRA Paper 24896, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Marie Mahon & Micheál Ó Cinnéide, 2009. "Governance Deficits in Residential Housing Estates in Ireland," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(1), pages 93-116, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daryl Martin, 2014. "Introduction: Towards a Political Understanding of New Ruins," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 1037-1046, May.
    2. Mia M. Bennett, 2021. "The Making of Post‐Post‐Soviet Ruins: Infrastructure Development and Disintegration in Contemporary Russia," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 332-347, March.
    3. Cian O’Callaghan & Pauline McGuirk, 2021. "Situating financialisation in the geographies of neoliberal housing restructuring: reflections from Ireland and Australia," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(4), pages 809-827, June.
    4. Collins Patrick, 2020. "Who makes the city? The evolution of Galway city," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 68(2), pages 59-78, May.
    5. Katia Attuyer, 2015. "When Conflict Strikes: Contesting Neoliberal Urbanism outside Participatory Structures in Inner-city Dublin," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 807-823, July.
    6. Pablo Arboleda, 2017. "‘Ruins of Modernity’: The Critical Implications of Unfinished Public Works in Italy," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 804-820, September.
    7. Ioanna P. Korfiati, 2022. "LANDSCAPES ON HOLD: Opening up Monopoly Rent Gaps on Crete's Cape Sidero," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 576-593, July.
    8. Paul Kilgarriff & Cathal ODonoghue & Martin Charlton & Ronan Foley, 2016. "Intertemporal Income in Ireland 1996-2011 A Spatial Analysis," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 9(2), pages 123-143.
    9. Neil Gray & Hamish Kallin, 2023. "Capital’s welfare dependency: Market failure, stalled regeneration and state subsidy in Glasgow and Edinburgh," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(6), pages 1031-1047, May.

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