An Irish Couple Built Homes For Their Employees Right Before Christmas

source: Twitter/RTE News

Although the holiday season can be overwhelming and chaotic, it also tends to bring out the best in some people. And for one Irish couple, this is completely true. Patricia and Tony Walsh live in County Kerry, Ireland, and are the owners of Walsh Colour Print and Educate. The business employs around 120 people, and their employees all have a very specialized skill set. Because there aren’t many qualified local candidates, Patricia and Tony hire many of their employees from other European countries.

source: Reddit/u/Iceidor

However, their employees were facing issues surrounding housing. There aren’t many housing options available in the area, and the options that do exist tend to be extremely expensive. After learning of their employees’ struggles to find housing, Patricia and Tony decided to create a solution – by building affordable housing for their employees to live in.

The not-for-profit housing they built consists of 1,000-square-foot attached homes which sell for approximately $36,500 below market value. Three of these block houses have now been completed, and three sets of employees have already purchased their own unit. Patricia and Tony noted there will be an informal agreement with the employees who purchase their homes to stay employed with the company for at least 10 years.

source: Twitter/RTE News

Patricia and Tony believe that providing their employees with affordable housing is a win-win situation for employees and business owners. Employees will be able to live within close proximity to their place of work, while also being able to enjoy pride of home ownership at a reasonable cost. The couple hopes that their affordable housing idea will set a precedent for other Irish business owners to do the same. Hats off to Patricia and Tony for this wonderful idea!

h/t Good News Network

I hope to hear more of this happening not only in Ireland, but all over the world as well!