New Mucklagh resident 'won the Lotto' with Offaly council house

NEW Mucklagh resident Kevin Walsh says he “won the Lotto” when he was allocated a council house after 12 years on the waiting list.

The Mayo native is married to Geraldine Downes from Ballycumber and they were living in Chicago when the recession hit in 2008.

Mr Walsh was working as a carpenter in the US city and the couple had bought their own house there.

“I was in construction and come May 30th 2008 everything just shut down overnight and I went from making about 40 dollars an hour to making 12 dollars an hour,” he said.

In 2011, after 16 years in Chicago, he decided to move back home and after arriving in Ireland work was “sporadic”.

“It took a long time to get back on our feet after when we came home but eventually we did come out the other side of the tunnel and then this happened,” he said, speaking as Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien officially opened the estate of eight houses in Mucklagh village.

The Walshs have four children aged from 18 to 12 and they returned to an Ireland which was also in recession.

“We never thought we'd get a house. The council told us to put our names on the list and we were like, 'Ah no, we're not going to do that' and they said go ahead and we did and we never really thought about it again.”

They were renting a house in The Island, Ballycumber and the children were going to school in Rahan and Killina.

“We were renting and I used to drive by here and see these houses and drool,” said Mr Walsh.

“I actually drove by the evening before we got notification from the council. I got home and I said to Geraldine my tongue was hanging out passing those houses. She called me at work the next day and said we're after getting one of those houses.”

He laughed and added: “I hung up on her because I thought she was messing, because she's a messer. And it took three or four more phone calls for her to convince me.”

Like most new residential builds, the houses constructed by Hanney Properties in Mucklagh have top of the range insulation and air to water heating systems.

“It's November and we haven't turned on the heating yet,” Mr Walsh remarked. Inside, the temperature in the front room of the three-bedroom semi-detached house is 19.5 degrees centigrade.

Leaving America “left a bad taste” in his mouth. “I don't feel like going back, ever. But it's good that the kids have that option.”

Mucklagh is now home. “We landed on our feet,” he said. “So we have a happy ending.”