Cork City Council tenant ‘living in fear of electrocution’

A CORK City Council tenant has said he is living in fear of electrocution because wastewater and sewage run down his walls from an upstairs flat onto electrical fittings.

Jason O’Sullivan, 53, has lived in the flat on Noonan Road since 2019, and he has been on the housing list since 1998.

Mr O’Sullivan told The Echo that he lives in the living room, because wastewater and sewage come down the walls from upstairs and because rats and mice have been in the bedroom.

Stench

He sleeps on the floor on a rolled-out mattress on foam, and he keeps the windows open because “the stench is terrible”.

He shares the living room, which is extremely tidy, with his 11-year-old dog Dax.

Mr O’Sullivan, who has a disability and an acquired brain injury, describes himself as a person with vulnerabilities.

He turns off the electricity supply in the flat at night, because fittings spark and he is “terrified” that the wastewater will cause an electrical fault and electrocute him.

The plaster on Mr O’Sullivan’s bathroom ceiling is peeling and falling down, as a result of persistent leaks from upstairs.

Last September, tenants on Noonan Road, St Finbarr’s Road, Fort Street, and Dean Street were told by Cork City Council that it favours rehousing tenants, demolishing the 60-year-old flats, and redeveloping the sites.

Shocking

That announcement came after a campaign last summer by tenants, highlighted by The Echo, against conditions later described by the council’s chief executive, Ann Doherty, as “shocking”.

Now, almost half of the Noonan Road flats are shuttered, with tenants moved out to other properties, but Mr O’Sullivan is one of the residents remaining in the complex.

He said he has been told by the council that he will be moved to a new development “in a couple of weeks” but he has not been given a definite date.

Nightmare

“I just want this nightmare to end,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “I think these flats should have been condemned, instead of putting someone into them. It’s a death sentence, I can’t recover, I’m going downhill, I’m not going to get better.

“It’s just a fight every day to survive in a place like this, and it shouldn’t have to be like this.”

Housing activist William O’Brien, who is running as an independent candidate in the Cork City South Central ward in the upcoming local elections, said he was calling for the Cork City Council Private Inspection Unit to investigate the property.

“In 2023, a pilot scheme to inspect 100 public properties was supposed to commence. I would like to know whether this scheme has commenced,” Mr O’Brien said.

Need to be protected

“Jason and other tenants have a right to live in safety and comfort, and they need to be protected at all costs.”

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said it does not comment on individual cases.

“The Cork City Council Customer Service Request Centre is available to all tenants to report repair requests. These are then addressed by the relevant Housing Operations staff,” they said.