‘I have got comfortable living in a house that I know I shouldn't be living in’

A mother of two who has applied to the defective blocks redress scheme for the demolition of her north Inishowen home has spoken of her frustration at delays caused by what she has described as “incompetence” by Donegal County Council.

The woman, who has declined to be named, initially applied to Donegal County Council for emergency accommodation after being told her home would have to be demolished and therefore was essentially unsafe to live in.

The search for suitable accommodation was fruitless and her family has remained in the house due to the delay in the application process for full demolition and rebuild.

The application process started in July 2021 and in the following November she applied for stage 2 approval for demolition. But almost a year later the application has still not been approved.

“I am not looking for accommodation because I have had to resign myself to being here until we begin work because it has taken so long,” she said.

“In 18 months, it hasn't fallen yet and I have got comfortable living in a house that I know an engineer has said I shouldn't be living in.

“We have leaks in the house and we have stuff falling down the chimney but we are not as bad as some people and we haven't had to put in reinforced joists or anything and we are fortunate that our house is dry-lined inside.

“Because we have plaster boards on, from an inside perspective that is disguising a lot, which helps me to forget about it. But if it needs to be demolished, how could it be safe?”

There are “cracks everywhere” and “the tiles are moving”, she said. “Everything is moving so how would that be safe to live in?”

She expects to receive approval soon, but progress has only been made due to the intervention of a county councillor. She had given up due to the delays in the application process, before she contacted the councillor.

“It is a disgrace that you have to rely on an elected representative.”

She said the application process has been slowed by regular interventions from the council asking for further information at intervals of up to eight weeks, which she has found “infuriating”.

“I get really annoyed because there are older people who would not be as savvy at attaching information and using the portal, which you would have to constantly go back into.”

The delays in asking for more information on her applications are down to “incompetence” by the council, she said, something which was revealed to her after an intervention by a Department of Housing official.

The family has become used to living in an unsafe house because they have no other choice, she said.

“Right now we have just become immune to it all. We can’t afford the mortgage and rent. We have had to find some way that we don’t lose our minds as well. We have had to find a coping mechanism.”

She has made alternative plans other than being accommodated by the council but that means having to split her family up.

She will live with her mother and her husband will stay in Dublin where he works and stay with his family at the weekend.

There are no plans yet for where their teenage son, who is in his Leaving Cert year, will live when they have to move out of their home.

“I could not live with the uncertainty of not knowing where could I put all my stuff, what type of house I will get to rent, and will it be big enough.

“So the family has to be split up because we can’t plan. I can't live with the uncertainty.”

She is still woken at night by noise caused by walls cracking, but she has no confidence that the council will be able to find her accommodation when the time comes for her to leave her home.

“Where are the council going to put people? There is nowhere for anyone to go. They can’t even house the people who are on housing lists for ten years so what are they going to do with the mica people?

"But someone should have built modular homes somewhere - there are quick ways to house them. I have never relied on anyone to help me so I will do my own thing.”