Council officials to meet with local authority tenants to discuss accommodation concerns after 'huge campaign'

Local authority tenants on Noonan’s Road, St Finbarr’s Road, Fort Street and Dean Street have received letters informing them that members of Cork City Council’s housing directorate intend to visit their homes in the coming weeks.

Tenants are advised in the letters, which are dated Wednesday 9 August, that “members of the housing team will be calling to every resident in the coming weeks to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your accommodation”.

The letters come after The Echo highlighted appalling living conditions in the 60-year-old flat complexes, with council tenants living in crumbling structures which are prone to leaks, damp, black mould and rodent infestation.

Following that coverage, in which tenants complained of being “abandoned” and “ignored” by Cork City Council over years and in some cases decades, the city council chief executive Ann Doherty visited two of the four flat complexes two weeks ago.

During that visit, Ms Doherty, who has been chief executive since 2014, expressed her shock at the living conditions in the Noonan’s Road and St Finbarr’s Road flats.

Speaking to tenants, Ms Doherty said that it as her intention to return to the council’s housing maintenance unit to address outstanding issues.

She said that some of the things she had seen and heard from tenants made her believe “a couple of arses need kicking”, a phrase she subsequently insisted to The Echo related to substandard work carried out by a sub-contractor whom she declined to name.

Leaked Report

Last week, The Echo published details from a leaked Cork City Council internal, draft, report on the Noonan’s Road and St Finbarr’s Road flats.

That report, dating from December 2022, found “major structural defects” in the Noonan’s Road and St Finbarr’s Road flats, and recommended the complete demolition of the buildings.

Responding to a query from The Echo, Cork City Council insisted that, despite the structural defects highlighted in the report, the buildings were not unsafe.

The unpublished report estimated that it would cost €12 million to refurbish the flats at Noonan’s Road, St Finbarr’s Road, Dean Street and Fort Street before the cost of rehousing tenants and storing their possessions was taken into account, but the council report stressed, in bold, block capitals:

“It is NOT the recommendation of this report to carry out these repairs ... The recommendation of this report is to knock all external walls to ground level and re-build entire structure.” 

Responding to the news that tenants are to be consulted by members of Cork City Council’s housing directorate on the future of their homes, Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, said it was a positive step for residents but that progress should not have needed so much publicity and campaigning.

Mr Gould also questioned why no action had been taken on Noonan’s Road and the surrounding areas since December’s unpublished report.

“People deserve to live in safe, secure homes. Cork City Council have had at least eight months to progress these issues, it is now long past time that progress was made,” he said.

“A report has sat on the desk of the Chief Executive for those eight months with no clear progress. 

"It has taken a huge campaign by residents, and the publication of the findings of that report, to see any real progress.” 

New Report

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said the contents of the December 2022 draft report would inform the report on the future of the Noonan’s Road, St Finbarr’s Road, Fort Street and Dean Street flats due, as stated by the chief executive to tenants, in September of this year.

Mr Gould, whose constituency includes the southside area including the flat complexes, said clarity was now needed from Cork City Council.

“Do similar reports exist into Baker’s Road, Clashduv Road, Cattlemarket Avenue or other areas in the city? Without publishing all reports, the residents in these flats can only assume that there are similar findings for their flat complexes,” Mr Gould said.

Mr Gould’s Sinn Féin colleague, Cllr Fiona Kerins, added that she had been working with the residents of Noonan’s Road and surrounding areas for a number of years.

“It has been clear from the outset that there were serious issues with their homes but council have buried their head in the sand on the issue,” she said.

“These flats had a shelf life of 50 years. 

"Cork City Council knew that and should have been planning for it but instead they have ignored the problems.

“The council must work with residents over the coming weeks so a full plan can be brought forward for complete regeneration of these homes,” Cllr Kerins said.