Family of man who lay dead inside Mallow house for 22 years call for review of derelict sites laws

Tim O’Sullivan’s family said that in a country with 180,000 derelict properties, Ireland’s dereliction crisis could be hiding more similar tragedies

A bouquet of flowers placed at the boarded up house of Tim O’Sullivan in Mallow, Co Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins. 

The family of a man whose skeletal remains lay undiscovered in a derelict house in Cork for more than 20 years have called for a full review of the State’s derelict sites laws and other protocols to ensure a similar tragedy doesn’t happen again.

Tim O’Sullivan’s family has also called for “a more compassionate, efficient and proactive” derelict sites and compulsory purchase order system citing fears that in a country with 180,000 derelict properties, Ireland’s dereliction crisis could be hiding more similar tragedies.