Kildare residents living in unfinished estate for nearly 20 years demand action
A broken fence leads to the vacant plot of land adjacent to the estate, which is now alleged to be attracting anti-social behaviour
RESIDENTS of Castledermot housing estate have expressed their anger and frustration at Kildare County Council (KCC) over the unfished condition of their estate. Despite the fact that their estate is fully occupied, the residents have decided enough is enough and want to raise the issue publicly in an attempt to bring elicit action from the local authority.
The Friary estate development began in 2005 but was left in an incomplete state in 2008 when the developer went into receivership.
It has been expected for a number of years that KCC would take in charge the estate but this has not happened yet.
In 2024, funding of €4.2 million was secured and allocated by Kildare County Council to complete 14 unfinished homes and 2 additional social homes in the estate.
The estate has been fully occupied since March 2025 with the last 14 units occupied with social housing since then.
Miriam Harvey bought her home in the estate in 2006 with her husband. She contacted the recently as a spokesperson for a committee of residents who are “asking for accountability, transparency and a clear timeline for the completion of outstanding works.” She told us the following: “As per the site resolution plan, we were told as residents and property owners that once the estate was fully occupied it would be taken over by Kildare County Council and works would be completed to finish the estate.”
The primary concern of the residents is that there is significant issue with potholes and uneven surfaces on the roads and footpaths of the estate.
There are a number of other issues. There is a derelict field between the road that Ms Harvey lives on and the nearby Scoil Diarmada, the local primary school. The resident said that the field was intended to be the site of phase 3 of the housing development in the estate but it was unable to be proceeded with due to the site being on a floodplain. The estate as it currently stands is already susceptible to heavy flooding.
Ms Harvey believes that the field is being used by local youths for anti-social behaviour.
There is a second, smaller green space in the estate that has been left unkept and undeveloped with a broken fence separating it from the street. In addition, the green area for children to play in one part of the estate is deemed unsafe by residents. There is also no sign at the front of the estate with the estate’s name on it.
Asked about the impact of all this on the residents, Ms. Harvey said:
“I’m angry with Kildare County Council because I feel in general in the county there’s money being put into things that don’t really need it versus looking after residents in an estate so that’s how I feel. It’s disheartening and angry, I’m angry as well as are all the other residents.” Ms Havey said she is paying a high mortgage and that her property tax has increases since last month.
On her and her fellow resident’s communication with the council, she said:
“The issue at the moment is, they came out last May to take photos and mark areas and that, and the girl has since moved roles. They’re saying there’s no one to take over the role. Before that they were saying there’s not enough money in the bond to finish the estate. They’re constantly making excuses, constantly fobbing us off, and nothing’s been done.” Ms Harvey also made the point that the increased number of vehicles in the estate since the arrival of new residents last year has only made the roads worse, adding insult to injury considering that KCC promised the estate would be finished once it became full occupied.
In June 2025, KCC issued a taking in charge report for the estate.
In January 2026 KCC gave an update outlining that work on the unfinished estate is set to go to tender, with further progress on the estate being subject to the availability of staff resources with the local authority being short of an engineer for the project.
There was no update on the estate itself at the February Athy Municipal District meeting, but KCC said that the Municipal District are looking into works on the footpath from Pike Cross, Upper Main Street down to the estate as part of the Castledermot master plan.
