‘We can’t live like this for another year’, says resident of Cork flat

The young mother of a newborn baby has appealed to Cork City Council to find them a home free from damp, mould, and rodents.

Rimgita Anusauskaite is 23 and lives with her three-year-old daughter Kayla in the Noonan’s Road flat they share with Rimgita’s parents and her sister.

The flat is part of a 60-year-old social housing development owned and maintained by Cork City Council and, like many of its neighbouring properties, it is prone to damp, black mould, and rodent infestation.

Ms Anusauskaite gave birth to baby Leo in mid-December, and she said she is terrified that his health will be affected by the damp and mould which has caused his older sister chronic illness all her life.

Campaign

Following a campaign by tenants to highlight living standards in council flats in the Noonan’s Road area, Cork City Council said in September that it intends to demolish and replace the buildings.

With some residents claiming their plight has again slipped down the council’s agenda, Ms Anusauskaite said she was desperate to get suitable accommodation for her children.

“I am begging the council to help us, because Kayla is constantly sick with a chest infection, and Leo is a newborn baby who can’t live in a damp, mouldy flat,” said Ms Anusauskaite.

“Please help us, because we cannot live like this for another year.”

In late June, The Echo visited the Noonan’s Road flat that Ms Anusauskaite and her daughter Kayla shared with her family.

Ms Anusauskaite had said at the time that despite multiple complaints to their landlord, Cork City Council, the heating in their home had not worked in the three years they had lived there.

“We try to clean off the mould from the walls and the ceilings, I scrub and clean, I’ve tried all the sprays, and nothing works, because it keeps coming back,” she said.

“I’m pregnant and I worry about the effect the mould is having on all our health, my daughter is sick on and off a lot of the time, and we’ve had rats and mice coming into our room as well.”

Black mould 

As the seasons turned, conditions in the flat only worsened, with leaks increasing and black mould blooming back despite constant attempts to keep it under control. By November, Ms Anusauskaite, by then eight months pregnant, and little Kayla had swapped bedrooms with Rimgita’s parents, as the damp was marginally less bad in their room.

Ms Ausauskaite said she was told by construction workers, working for the council, that they would carry out works to insulate the walls of the flat “before the baby is here”.

Someone from pest control left traps, she said, but after two weeks nothing was caught, and the traps were taken away, with the pest control worker saying: ‘Clearly there’s nothing there’.

“I’ve caught mice in the kitchen, I’ve sent photos to the council and they haven’t even replied to me,” Ms Anusauskaite claimed.

In mid-December, Ms Anusauskaite’s second child, Leo, was born. Despite several emails to the council, she said, no construction work has been carried out in the flat and the damp is worse than ever, with rodent activity still as bad.

Queries about Ms Anusauskaite’s application for council accommodation for herself and her children have not been acknowledged in almost two months, she claimed.

In July, Ms Anusauskaite’s interview with The Echo featured in the first of a series of articles highlighting appalling living conditions in council properties in Noonan’s Road, St Finbarr’s Road, Fort St and Dean St.

Abandoned

Tenants complained of being “abandoned”, “ignored” and “forgotten” for years in dilapidated and crumbling homes 10 years past their planned 50-year lifespan and prone to leaks, damp, black mould and rodent infestation.

At the end of July last year, the area was visited by Cork City Council’s chief executive, Ann Doherty, who was accompanied by assistant chief executive Brian Geaney and city architect Tony Duggan.

The officials expressed their shock at living conditions in the flats, with Ms Doherty telling tenants: “All I can do is say is I’m really sorry that you’ve been let down over the years”.

Ten days after the visit, The Echo published details from a December 2022 Cork City Council draft report, which found “major structural defects” in the Noonan’s Road and St Finbarr’s Road flats and recommended in the strongest terms the complete demolition of the buildings.

In late September 2023, tenants were told by letter that the council favoured the demolition of their homes and the redevelopment of the sites.

“This would require, on a phased basis, the temporary relocation of all residents, with an option to return to the redeveloped new homes or if they wish remain living at their relocated home,” the letter said, assuring tenants that they would be consulted on the redevelopment, with ongoing maintenance issues addressed by the council.

However, residents now say they have felt the Noonan’s Road area fading from the council’s agenda.

Eileen Aherne, chairwoman of the residents’ committee, said that between Noonan’s Road and St Finbarr’s Road, approximately 20 tenants so far had moved out, and she said residents had noted what she called a “slowing down” of responses by the council to their queries.

“I think they’re ignoring people again,” Ms Aherne said.

“They’re not answering phones down there, I think the attitude seems to be ‘There’s a few gone now, we’re after moving a few people, so leave us alone now for another while’.”

Disappointed 

Housing activist William O’Brien, who is standing as an independent candidate in next summer’s local election and who was instrumental in highlighting the plight of the residents of Noonan’s Road and the surrounding area, said he was very disappointed that there seemed to be a lack of urgency in addressing residents’ concerns.

He said that while Ms Doherty had acknowledged their emails, other senior council employees had not, which he said was having a negative impact on tenants’ trust in the consultative process promised by officials in July.

“The emails were singing, but there was no response, and that was breaking, again, the trust that was built when people said: ‘They came up from City Hall, we’re after being seen and heard, and hopefully now we can be treated with the dignity and respect we deserve’,” he said.

“Tenants are more than willing to participate, but a lot of the trust built up on the walkabout last summer has been squandered now.”

Mr O’Brien said he had been told by someone with “intimate knowledge” of the situation, that tenants might not be completely moved out of the current, dilapidated flats on Noonan’s Road and the surrounding areas until perhaps 2030.

Responding to the suggestion that the last tenants might not be moved out of the crumbling flats on Noonan’s Road and surrounding areas until perhaps the end of the decade, Fianna Fáil’s councillor Seán Martin said it was his hope and belief that by the second quarter of the new year significant progress would be very obvious.

“And we need to be seen going forward to be moving in a positive fashion on Noonan’s Road and the surrounding areas, we need to be getting people out and offering them alternative accommodation and getting to work in redeveloping the area,” said Mr Martin.

He repeated his previously expressed hope that the refurbishment of the area would prove to be a “flagship project” for the council.

Cork City Council was asked for a comment.