Almost one-third of business premises empty in Clare town

ALMOST ONE-THIRD of the business premises in Shannon Town are vacant, a new survey has shown.

The quarterly GeoDirectory study has revealed the town had a 29% vacancy rate at the end of 2022.

Clare's vacancy rate is 15% overall.

In Limerick, one in every five commercial premises in Abbeyfeale are vacant.

The Kerry border town had a vacancy rate of 22% at the end of 2022, according to the new GeoDirectory Commercial Vacancy Rates survey, published this week.

In terms of empty units, Limerick was above the national average of 14%, with the city centre having the county’s lowest rate of 18.9%.

Across the whole county, the vacancy rate stood at 16.9% average at the end of 2022, up 0.1% year-on-year.

Elsewhere, the GeoDirectory survey revealed Shannon Town had the highest vacancy rate in the State with almost one-third of its business premises shuttered.

Meath remained as the county with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the state, followed by Wexford and Kerry.

Commenting on the findings of the latest Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, Dara Keogh, chief executive of GeoDirectory said: “The rate of commercial vacancies is the highest level recorded by GeoDirectory since the report began in 2013, continuing the trend of increasing rates in recent years. It is likely that this will continue in the short to medium term, as working-from-home becomes more formalised, combined with the growth of online retail and services, resulting in businesses requiring less physical space than previously.”

Annette Hughes, director of EY Economic Advisory Services added: “Only five counties in the country recorded a decrease in commercial vacancy rates, while counties along the west coast continue to exceed the national average. Looking at specific economic sectors, there was a notable drop in the number of service and retail and wholesale units, which points to the ongoing challenges these sectors face due to evolving economic trends and geopolitical uncertainties.”