Insights from the CLT movement in Ireland

On the 16 and the 17 of April 2026, the Cois Baile Seminar took place in Callan, Ireland. The event brought together national actors and international actors, including South of Scotland Community Housing, Self Organised Architecture, Cork CLT, the Housing Agency, Ó Cualann and Trí Síolta Community Land Trust.

Across Ireland, community-led responses to land are gaining momentum. Groups and organisations, including Community Land Trusts, seek to move land and housing out of the speculative market and into community stewardship models that ensure local control, support local communities and infrastructure.

Cork Community Land Trust

Cork CLT has emerged in recent years in response to Cork’s acute housing pressures. The project brings together local communities exploring community-led responses to land at the intersection of art, culture and architecture - often responding to vacancy in the city centre.

The empty site that now hosts the project TEST SITE.

The TEST SITE project functions as a public space and an outdoor venue - it is community-led and provides a space for cultural use within the city centre of Cork.

Discussions throughout the visit focused on Ireland’s increasingly financialised land and housing system, including Compulsory Purchase Orders, stalled developments linked to unclear land titles, land banking, and feasibility studies driven by developer returns. These dynamics often prioritise market viability over social needs. Strict building, fire, and insurance regulations were also noted as barriers to the reuse of existing buildings.

This was also discussed in relation to Ireland’s coastal and rural communities, with strong linguistic and cultural identities. In these areas, high levels of second homes and short-term rentals further constrain already limited housing supply. The impact goes beyond housing access, threatening the viability of these communities and the continuity of their language.

Cois Baile Seminar - towards CLTs in Ireland

On April 16 in Callan, a charming Irish village in County Kilkenny, Cait from Trí Síolta Community Land Trust opened the Cois Baile seminar, aiming to strengthen the movement for community-led housing and CLTs in Ireland through meaningful action and advocacy.

Rylan and Irene from the European CLT Network contributed with an introduction to CLTs and insights from our EU-level advocacy work, and joined working group discussions on implementation and movement-building during the afternoon.

©Brian Cregan

In conversation with the Housing Agency. ©Brian Cregan

Forming an Community Land Trust Alliance

It was powerful to take part in a national gathering and to hear from initiatives such as Trí Síolta CLT alongside reflections from Scotland’s community housing sector, including SOSCH. These exchanges highlighted the importance of enabling structures, evidence-building, and a shared recognition of the need for a stronger, coordinated voice for the movement, with agreement to move towards forming a Community Land Trust alliance for Ireland.

West Court Living and Growing, Trí Síolta CLT.

Trí Síolta, meaning “three seeds” in Irish, grew from initiatives inspired by the Camphill community in the area, an intentional shared-living model created with and for disabled people.

In 2025, Trí Síolta CLT grew into a viable CLT model, providing lasting, caring and inclusive infrastructure - such as the community garden and bio-diversity site Westcourt Living & Growing.

A key reflection from the visit was the power of speaking with a coordinated voice. At the same time, rather than treating movements as singular or uniform, their diversity can be understood as a core strength. 

This raises important questions about how locally grounded, situated knowledge can be carried into broader advocacy, particularly in our own work at EU level, and how the specificity central to community-led, place-based efforts can continue to be celebrated and cared for as the movement scales.

A special thank you to Rosie, Eve, Cait, Thom, Ailbhe for this opportunity and for the warm welcome. 

Cois Baile was funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and supported through the Ecolise CHOICE Project.