'We can still hear the rats in the walls': Council tenants still in dilapidated flats in Cork city

“I didn’t even put up a Christmas tree this year, that’s how down I am about ever getting out of here,” said one of the last residents of a block of flats Cork City Council intends to demolish.

“The council showed us a place near enough to here and it was perfect, I had my heart set on it, that must be two months ago, and we’ve heard no more about getting a key since.

“In the meantime, we’re left freezing in a damp, mouldy flat for Christmas,” they told The Echo, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Last year, council tenants in 1960s-era blocks of flats on Noonan’s Rd, St Finbarr’s Rd, Fort St, and Dean St spoke in this newspaper about living in crumbling homes prone to mould and damp, with regular infestation by rats and mice living in the ceilings and hollowed-out walls.

Championed by local housing activist William O’Brien, the residents secured in July of last year a visit to Noonan’s Rd and St Finbarr’s Rd by the then Cork City Council chief executive Ann Doherty.

Two months later, Cork City Council told tenants that it favoured the demolition of the flats.

Now, two Christmases on, roughly half of the 60 flats on Noonan’s Rd are shuttered, and the remaining tenants say only “three or four” of the flats on St Finbarr’s Rd are still in use.

“That would be a mixture of families and individuals across the two,” William O’Brien said.

In a statement, the council said 30 offers of alternative accommodation have now been accepted, while “16 refused and 14 are still in process”.

However, most of the 38 flats on Fort St and Dean St are still occupied, with residents there saying they are dealing with ongoing problems with cold, damp, mould, and rats.

“Every day my dog is killing rats out the back of my home, and every month we are painting wet walls and the paint is sliding off,” one Fort Street tenant said, asking to remain unnamed.

“And we can still hear the rats in the walls and the ceiling.”

The council said it had made seven offers of alternative accommodation to Fort St and Dean St residents, “of which one has been accepted, three refused, and three are in process”.

Some of the Noonan’s Rd and St Finbarr’s Rd tenants also spoke anonymously, fearing that to give their names might result in further delay to their being moved to better homes.

“Three months ago I was shown a lovely place in [a nearby area] and I thought it was grand altogether, but since then I’ve been on to the housing officer again and again and I still can’t get a key,” said one person.

Another tenant agreed that there seemed to be “a complete slow-down” in recent months, “and now of course it’s Christmas, so now there’ll be nothing done ’til February or March”.

Another resident said there seemed to be a “completely bananas” policy whereby sitting tenants were ignored despite asking for improvements to their homes “for years” while, as soon as a property was vacated, the same property would be completely renovated.

“If you’re talking to the council, will you ask them why they gut perfectly good properties before new tenants can move in?” asked one person, repeating a concern voiced by other tenants.

“Because they’re wasting money tearing out brand new fitted kitchens and fireplaces and the like.”

Cork City Council said it deals with repairs and renovations in vacant properties on a case-by-case basis.

Mr O’Brien said a number of the remaining tenants were dealing with disabilities and other issues and had not received the support they needed from Cork City Council or from other State bodies.

“Unfortunately, and this is not unique to Noonan’s Rd or the flats around Noonan’s Rd, people have often been left to their own devices in substandard housing, people who need help more than most.”

Mr O’Brien said the remaining tenants were deeply frustrated with the slow pace of the council’s dealing with their own cases.

“People are living on their nerves in the O’Byrne flats and I just cannot understand why the council can’t just move people out, the way they were promised,” he said, referring to the Noonan’s Rd area flats, which were built six decades ago under the then city architect, Eamon O’Byrne.

“The O’Byrne flats were a creative solution to public housing difficulties at the time, but there has been little or no money put into them in the 50 or more years since they were built, and they’re absolutely not fit for purpose in the 21st century,” he said.

“To be fair to [former city council chief executive] Ann Doherty, she did own up to their shortcomings, but the response from the council since then, over a year, wouldn’t inspire confidence.

“Some of the tenants just feel completely abandoned.

“It’s another Christmas, and we have people still living in cold, damp flats, with black mould on the walls and rats and mice for company. It’s just not good enough,” Mr O’Brien said.

Cork City Council said its project liaison officer was available to engage one-on-one with tenants, and further engagement with tenants would take place in the New Year.

“In the interim, our housing assets section continues to provide assistance where tenants raise issues in relation to maintenance concerns which are within the city council’s responsibility,” it said.

“Arses need kicking”

Local authority housing flats at Noonan’s Rd, St Finbarr’s Rd, Fort St, and Dean St were built in the 1960s and follow a three-storey maisonette design introduced to what was at the time called corporation housing in Cork city by the then-city architect Eamon O’Byrne.

The O’Byrne flats were initially planned to have a 50-year lifespan, but six decades on, dozens of examples of occupied O’Byrne flats can be found across the city, including at Baker’s Rd, Mount Farran Pl, Togher Rd, Sycamore Pl, Maple Pl, Cattlemarket Ave, and Clashduv Rd. All are of a similar vintage.

Last year, The Echo highlighted a campaign by residents living in damp, mouldy and rodent-infested conditions in social housing flats in Noonan’s Rd, St Finbarr’s Rd, Fort St, and Dean St.

In late July, Cork City Council’s then chief executive Ann Doherty visited council flats on Noonan’s Rd and St Finbarr’s Rd, accompanied by assistant chief executive Brian Geaney and city architect Tony Duggan.

During her visit to the southside flats, Ms Doherty, who had been chief executive since 2014, said she was “shocked” at living conditions there, telling tenants: “A couple of arses need kicking, to be honest, because it’s not acceptable, and that will be dealt with”.

Ten days after Ms Doherty’s comments, The Echo published details from a December 2022 draft Cork City Council report which identified “major structural defects” in the Noonan’s Rd and St Finbarr’s Rd flats, including hollowed-out, loosened walls, and loosened roofs. The report strongly recommended the complete demolition of the buildings.

Last September, council tenants in the Noonan’s Rd area flats were told by Cork City Council that it favoured rehousing tenants, demolishing the dilapidated blocks, and redeveloping the sites.

Since then, a significant number of residents of the Noonan’s Rd and St Finbarr’s Rd flats have been rehoused, but a minority of tenants still remain. The flats on Fort St and Dean St remain, for the most part, still occupied.

Separately, residents of O’Byrne flats in Gurranabraher and in Togher have recounted to The Echo a litany of complaints regarding damp, mould, crumbling masonry, and rodent infestation, complaints they have accused the council of having “ignored”.

However, in each case, the council has said it has identified and addressed necessary repairs.