Cancer survivor using bleach to battle mould in her Cork council flat   

A CANCER survivor who uses bleach to keep mould at bay in the bedroom of her local authority flat has appealed to Cork City Council to tell her when repairs will be carried out in her home.

Kate Beattie is a 53-year-old cancer patient who has been a council tenant on Fort Street since 2005.

Ms Beattie is recovering from throat cancer, which in 2021 left her with a tracheostomy, and she suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and mobility issues.

She told The Echo that mould and damp are constant problems in the flat, and she uses bleach to address black mould in her bedroom, but the smell irritates her throat. 

A dehumidifier runs “constantly”, she said, but “that dries my chest out and makes my COPD worse”.

Black mould

The single-glazed windows in the back bedroom of Ms Beattie’s home will not close properly, and there is black mould on the window surrounds.

The floorboards in Ms Beattie’s bedroom have come away from the wall, something The Echo has seen, and she believes the external wall is unsafe.

Outside, a crumbling balcony is supported by scaffolding and a timber brace, erected by contractors after a previous brace came away in recent weeks.

Ms Beattie said she has contacted the council many times over the years and has been frustrated by what she claims has been a lack of interest in helping her.

One bedroom wall was plastered in recent weeks, but she claims she has not been told when other work she has requested, such as the installation of a walk-in shower, might happen.

Ms Beattie said she would love to stay locally, as her neighbours were “lovely” and the area was convenient for the local hospitals she has to attend.

“My first wish would be to stay living here, if they would just fix the problems, but that’s not going to happen, so then I would wish that the council would give me a three-bedroom house so that my children would be able to visit me and stay."

Shocking

The flats on Fort Street, Noonan’s Road, St Finbarr’s Road, and Dean Street were built in the 1960s, and last September tenants were told by Cork City Council that it favours rehousing tenants, demolishing the flats, and redeveloping the sites.

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

Six months on, approximately a third of the Noonan’s Road and St Finbarr’s Road flats are shuttered, but Fort Street and Dean Street residents say they haven’t been told when they will be moved.

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 living conditions in the Noonan’s Road area flats should now be an issue for Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.

“This is gone beyond the city council at this stage,” said Mr O’Brien.

“We have three senior Government ministers representing this constituency, and I would question whether any of them has ever sat down with any of the tenants in these flats.

“Do they even know the conditions people are living in?”

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he was very familiar with the Noonan’s Road area, and he said his own brother, Fianna Fáil councillor Seán Martin, had done a lot of work on the issue of living conditions in council flats in the locality.

“Very significant Government funding has gone into housing and Government has no issue working with the local authority in terms of getting the right solution,” he said.

New units

“[Regarding] Noonan’s Road, we fully accept that the conditions are not what they should be, and I think there will be significant developments in and around the environs, there’s quite a few new units coming on stream.

“Seán has met with the residents at public meetings, in the Gallows bar and elsewhere, and there has been extensive consultation and he’s working with the housing department, so I’m very au fait with it.

“I represent that area myself, it’s one of the last areas of flats that weren’t refurbished. Decanting has been going on for quite some time in Noonan’s Road, Finbarr’s Road, Fort Street and Dean Street, and there’s new developments taking place in Barrack Street and in the environs.

“Working with the local authority, funding is there, the resources are there to assist the tenants.”

Mr Martin said councillors were working “full on” to help people in the area, and he dismissed Mr O’Brien’s suggestion that he might not be familiar with the flats, saying: “I think it’s a cheap shot. I’m focussed on solutions, not rhetoric.”

Cork City Council was asked for comment, as were Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney and Finance Minister Michael McGrath.