Derry mum 'terrified' living in Triangle accommodation

A young mother has spoken out about the many day-to-day stresses she has experienced  living in Triangle Housing Association’s accommodation in Derry’s Patrick Street.

Rachel McLaughlin, a mum of two boys aged 5 and 8, described how ongoing anti-social behaviour inside and outside the building was making her family life “intolerable”.

“I have been a tenant in this building since April 2022,” she said. “One of my sons is autistic. He is nonverbal, has zero danger awareness, and has Global Developmental Delay (GDD).

“You can clearly see from the photographs showing the absolutely disgusting state of the shared spaces in the building, taken by my sons’ father and myself, the revolting situations we have had to take our children through to exit the building, to take them to school or out for a walk.

“These are the gross sights our boys are seeing on a day to day basis.

“The boys’ father does not live with us, but due to the ongoing anti-social behaviour in this building, for the entirety of the time we have lived here, I have had to contact him constantly to come stay with us due to the fear we have living here.

“Our eldest boy is very aware of everything he is seeing and hearing. He is terrified living in this place and because of that his behaviour has changed significantly.

“He is having outbursts of anger and aggression because he does not want to live here. He has also started wetting the bed and really struggles with sleeping at night due to the noise and fear he has.”

Rachel said she was also extremely concerned for her younger son given the situation in the building.

“Due to his issues, the mess and the total lack of health and safety measures in the building, is a massive risk to him,” said Rachel.

“For example, if he sees something sitting on the floor, whether it be cigarette butts, cans or bottles of alcohol, drugs, food or rubbish, his immediate reaction is to touch or lift it. This happens on a daily basis.

“The same thing goes for when there is blood on the floors, walls, stairs and lift, or puddles of urine in the lift. My son’s initial reaction is to try and touch it or step in it.

“There have also been dogs wandering around the building and he attempts to grab them. If we have to share the lift or come into contact with tenants or guests of tenants, he immediately runs to them and touches or grabs them.

“It is genuinely terrifying every single time because we don’t know who we will be coming into contact with and how they will react to him, as on many occasions these people are off their heads on drink and drugs. We are running into these people at all hours of the day, inside and outside of the building, as early as 8.30am in the morning doing the school run.”

Rachel revealed that on multiple occasions when bringing her children back from school, she has had to walk past the building.

“This is due to men who do not live here, being off their heads on alcohol or drugs, and banging the door to get into the building.

“Because I don't want any confrontation with them or to let them into the building, I just walk on up the street. This then sets my youngest off.

“He ends up having a meltdown in the middle of the street because he knows that's where we live and he can’t understand why we are not going in.

“My boys have been getting taken out with their father on multiple occasions and been confronted by people off their heads who have threatened the boys’ father in front of them when he simply asked them to ‘calm down and take it easy because there were kids living in the building’.

“We accepted this accommodation after going through a very traumatic house fire in February 2022. We were desperate and needed our own space close to the boys’ school. On the day of viewing, the accommodation and the building was cleaned to a high standard. The staff from Triangle showing me around, were very polite and answered any questions I had.”

Rachel was at pains to point out she had told the Triangle staff in great detail about the situation they had just left regarding their previous home and about her child’s disability.

She added: “The only thing they told me was that there was a bar next door so there might be some noise at the weekend but it wasn’t a huge issue.

“A few days later, after signing the tenancy agreement and getting the keys, I entered the building alone and shared the lift with a group of men who stank of alcohol and appeared to be off their heads.

“When I was leaving, there was urine in the lift. This was during hours my children were at school and I naively thought that this was a one-off.

“The next day I was bringing my children in to see the place for the first time after school and there were three or four  police officers at the entrance of the building.

“When I walked through the door, a female police officer stopped me and asked did I live here and I told her that we hadn't moved in yet but would be soon and her eyes went wide and said do not move in here.”

Rachel said it was not long before she discovered there was constant police involvement in the building due to “a specific few tenants”, one in particular causing the majority of the issues.

“Unfortunately I had no other option or nowhere to turn and had to make the best of it and shield my children from as much of it as I possibly could.”

“Triangle was very aware of all the anti-social behaviour going on in the building. When I accepted this tenancy, Triangle knew all about our specific situation and my children's needs and issues. Triangle neglected to give me a heads up regarding what was happening in here.

“I have been consistently making official complaints to Triangle for over a year and not a single thing has been resolved or implemented long term. Security has been in and out on interim trials which is insane. The cleaning has never ever been consistent here, when it is supposed to be done three times a week.

“At a sit down meeting in April past in my personal accommodation in the building with two members of Triangle staff, after I had been making consistent complaints for around a year, their proposed resolution for all this nonsense was to put signs up in the building and the lift warning people not to discard rubbish, food, alcohol or cigarettes, or to smoke in the communal spaces. Six months later, Triangle has not carried one installed one of these notices.

“I am at my wits end. I feel so isolated, my friends and family want to help as much as they can but feel as if they can't because they're scared to come to this building with everything that goes on.”

Rachel said her mental well-being and that of her children was “a mess” as a result of living in the Triangle accommodation.

“We are terrified living here. We are losing sleep every night due to the constant noise from people running about inside, banging doors, shouting and screaming inside and outside at all hours of the day and night.

“My kids fall asleep listening to this nonsense and also wake up to it daily. My children have seen sights and heard things kids should not have to see or hear. I am doing everything I possibly can to get out of here and have nowhere else to turn.

“I am currently and very luckily now on the transfer list but it could be a very long process still to get out of here and I genuinely do not know how much longer I can put up with it as not a thing has been or is being done.

“I should never have been placed in this building with my boys.”

A spokesperson for Triangle recently said: “The Association is aware of issues relating to anti-social behaviour in and around the development at Patrick Street in Derry.

“Senior staff members from Triangle recently met with a local elected representative for the area, the PSNI and the City Centre Initiative to discuss tenant and local community safety. Security arrangements at the block have subsequently been increased.

“The Association is proactively managing anti-social at the block and remains committed to working collaboratively with tenants, the PSNI, and other key stakeholders to improve community safety within the vicinity of its development, and the wider area.”