Souvenir Land schemes
 

Tourists and those searching on the net have been offered "souvenir" gift plots of land measuring 1 foot square in various areas of Ireland.

Have you bought one of these? Do you know anyone who has? Were they pleased or did they get ripped off? Does this have any legal basis? I have been looking at the prospect of buying one of these as a gift for my husband but can't find any unbiased information.

They are often sold thus "Buy a Little Piece of Ireland."
Can anyone out there help? I could not think of anywhere else to post this query.

Thanks Buzzy

I'm a lawyer; and have a client who does this in Scotland. I can't speak for the Irish legal system but the scheme we've set up is legal and protected for the buyer here.

Hi buzzy,

How much are you investing?

I'm only investing a token sum. It's really a novelty gift. I was looking to buy 4 square feet of the land at 143 Euros. That's because the number 4 is significant to us already and it is his 44th birthday in 2004.

Buzzy

In which case you will get a certificate or a deed to your 4 sq ft suitable for framing.

You will not get riparian or mineral rights. You might be guaranteed access.

In any event, it is not a large enough investment to worry about, is it?

Thanks for your help Ira. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of money to my name.

My husband is very special and ideally I would love to get something that is a permanent presence in the world just to mark how important I feel he is. That's very hard to achieve for a few hundred Euros though. This is the nearest I can get and I must confess it does all sound a bit dubious. I will probably go ahead in good faith and hope that it has some basis legally but who knows. If I screw up I'll just have to join the idiots club.

Buzzy

maybe you can plant a tree in his name? or put up a bench in a public park?

Have a look at this link. It may be of interest to you, if the plot of land thing doesn't come through.

http://www.treecouncil.ie/family.html

I don;t understand why you think this is some sort of fraud. It seems very clear on the face - you pay a modest sum and then own a very small piece of land - which obviously had no other use. You really can;t be cheated - because you know going it that it isn;t worth anything really, you can;t use it for anything and its not resaleable. This is like "buying" a star - its a gesture - the object you're buying has no real value!