Ballybofey has lost its unwanted crown as the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate in Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than a third (33.6%) of commercial buildings in the town were lying empty when sampled in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, locals claim some units in the town are \u2018deliberately\u2019 left vacant and owners choose not to advertise them for rent or sale.<\/p>\n
The report found that Shannon, Co. Clare, reported the highest commercial vacancy rate in Q4 2025 at 34.5%, increasing by 3.6 pp in the 12 months to December 2025. Ballybofey dropped from first to second place with a vacancy rate of 33.6%, a decrease of 2.8 pp. Boyle, Co. Roscommon (29.8%), Sligo Town (26.4%) and Letterkenny (26.2%) completed the top five towns with the highest commercial vacancy rates.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the lowest commercial vacancy rates in the country were recorded in Carrigaline, Co. Cork (5.1%) and Greystones, Co. Wicklow (7.3%).<\/p>\n
Bundoran, meanwhile, had the lowest vacancy rate in Donegal at 14.3% while vacancy levels in the county as a whole had risen to 20.6%, higher than the national average of 14.6%.<\/p>\n
County Sligo recorded the highest commercial vacancy rate in the State at 20.8%, followed closely by Donegal (20.6%) and Galway (18.7%).<\/p>\n
Meath remained the county with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the country at 10.0%, followed by Wexford (10.9%) and Westmeath (11.9%).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ballybofey no longer is Irish town with highest commercial vacancy rate was last modified: February 25th, 2026 by Staff Writer<\/p>\n
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