Level of empty commercial units in Athlone decreases

Athlone still has the highest rate of commercial vacancies in Westmeath - but the situation is slowly improving.

That's according to figures in the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report, which is compiled by Ordnance Survey Ireland in conjunction with An Post.

In recent years the survey found that one in five commercial or retail premises in Athlone was lying idle, with a vacancy rate of slightly over 20% being recorded at the midpoint of 2023 and 2024.

This year, however, the town's vacancy rate dropped to 18.8% .The vacancy rate was surveyed in Athlone Moate and Mullingar, with the county town having the lowest level of vacancies, at 12.3%, down from 13.2% a year earlier.

Moate saw a slight worsening of the commercial vacancy problem, with the proportion of empty units rising from 17%, half way through 2024, to 17.8% twelve months later.

The commercial vacancy rate in Westmeath as a whole was 12.2% in June 2025, which was lower than the national average of 14.6%, according to the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Vacancy Rates Report published yesterday (Thursday).

In Leinster, excluding Dublin, Athlone was the town with the ninth highest commercial vacancy rate, behind Edgeworthstown, Edenderry, Mountmellick, New Ross, Longford, Drogheda, Dundalk and Tullamore.

In Roscommon, the vacancy rate was higher than the national average, rising from 17.4% in June 2024 to 17.8% a year later.

Two of the county's towns were surveyed - Boyle and Roscommon town - with Boyle's vacancy rate rising from 27.7% to 29.8%, and Roscommon town's increasing marginally from 19.8% to 19.9%.

In Offaly, the vacancy rate fell from 16% to 15.7%, despite the county continuing to have a town with one of Leinster's highest vacancy rates in Edenderry (26.6%).

An analysis of the report, prepared by EY, found that the national commercial vacancy rate of 14.6% in June 2025 represented a new high, with a total of 30,800 commercial units classified as vacant across the State.

Meath, at 10%, was the county with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the country and the only county in the State with a vacancy rate not above 10%.

Of the 80 main towns and urban areas surveyed by GeoDirectory nationally, Ballybofey in Donegal registered the highest commercial vacancy rate at 33.7%.

Annette Hughes, Director at EY Economic Advisory, commented: "In the second quarter of 2025, the commercial property vacancy rate rose in 17 out of the 26 counties, continuing a trend of more than half of the counties experiencing an increase in vacancy rates.

"Overall the commercial vacancy rate is continuing its upward trajectory at the same time as residential vacancy rates have reached historic lows.

"This trend highlights the significant challenges and market dynamics commercial businesses have faced in recent years, in spite of the strong overall economic performance of the Irish economy.

"Evolving shopping preferences and ongoing cost pressures on businesses and households continue to impact the sector, although the extent of their influence will vary depending on factors such as location and sector," she said.