Call for tax relief to bring ‘the pulse’ back to rural Kerry towns

Offering incentives to use street-front buildings in Kerry towns as homes would bring “the pulse” back into rural towns as well as helping tackle the housing waiting list, local politicians have said.

The heart has gone out of towns and villages all over Kerry and few people are living in town centres or over shops any more, a meeting of the county council was told. The change occurred in less than a generation — but with imaginative tax and grant packages and a push by county management it could be reversed.

Fianna Fáil councillor Niall Kelleher said there are 25 houses vacant on Main St in his native Rathmore.