Residents scared to return to Cork city apartment complex infested with 'plague of rats' 

RESIDENTS of an apartment complex on the northside of the city have said they have “had enough” of the illegal dumping taking place at the property which has led to a rat infestation.

The dumping of rubbish in Mayfield has attracted “a plague of rats” which has left some residents “too scared” to stay in their own homes.

The complex has an enclosed courtyard that once housed a play area for children but has become overgrown and is now used as a dumping ground, with “mountains of rubbish” attracting rats to the area.

Resident Nicole Woods told The Echo that she is concerned for her health and terrified for her life and cannot use her back garden for fear of catching Weil’s disease.

Ms Woods, who recently had a hip replacement and is due to have major surgery on her back, said: “I’m concerned for my health and absolutely terrified for my life.”

Ms Woods lived at the property with her aunt and cousin before her sister and two nieces recently moved in but concerns for the 17-month-old and six-month-old forced them to move out of the house and into a one-bedroom apartment in another part of the city.

“We have a huge hole in our bathroom from when the extractor fan was taken away three-and-a-half months ago and we were fearing our lives for the two girls so we left and haven’t been home since Monday.

“There were six of us in the house and now we’re in my sister’s little one-bedroom apartment.

“Nobody would take us in over Covid-19 which is absolutely understandable, it’s a scary time, but with nobody to take us in we’re now in my sister’s little one-bedroom.

“We don’t want the keys to a new house, we want a safe home to live in. We’re just sick of this,” she said.

Workers’ Party councillor Ted Tynan said that pest control, who were sent to the property after city council was informed of the situation last week, said that it was “a major disaster zone”.

He said that the problem no longer lies with the outdoor courtyard alone, after rats were seen in the downstairs hallways and stairwells of the complex.

Cllr Tynan said that the situation was “ten times worse” since The Echo first covered the issue of the rat infestation back in July.

“There are mattresses thrown in the courtyard, rubbish, and overflowing bins.

“The rubbish is more widespread and it’s a small number of people who are availing of the opportunity to dump rubbish late at night.”

He said that there are also a number of holes in the ground where rats are coming up from underground galleries where a district heating system once ran hot water running up through pipes into the individual flats.

“Those galleries are about three feet down so you can imagine that the rats have the best of accommodation,” he said.

The Echo has contacted Cork City Council for comment.