TD’s plea to find new home for terminally ill Cork pensioner

A Cork TD has appealed to Cork City Council to find a more suitable home for a terminally ill pensioner who says his damp, fume-filled home is worsening his medical condition.

Last week, David Kearney, a 69-year-old retired forestry and construction worker who is suffering from end-stage COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and emphysema, told The Echo he was begging Cork City Council to move him to a better home.

Mr Kearney, who has been told by doctors that he has perhaps two to four years to live, said the chimney in his flat is cracked and, although his fireplace has been plastered over by the council, it leaks fumes when his neighbours light fires.

In September of last year, Mr Kearney moved into a council flat on Cherry Tree Rd, a dwelling similar to 60-year-old social housing schemes in the Noonan’s Rd area, which the council has said it favours demolishing.

Mr Kearney, who only has 28% lung capacity, said the smell of creosote and soot in his home means he has to sleep with the windows open at night.

Appealing

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central, described Mr Kearney’s situation as “not good enough” and said he was appealing to Cork City Council to move him.

The city council, Mr Ó Laoghaire said, must “do better by its tenants”, saying it is “not right” that some of its tenants are living in these circumstances.

“I’m really particularly concerned by the flat complexes in Togher, including Cherry Tree Rd, and all the other ones as well. In my view, there’s a need for a full regeneration. These are flats that are long past their sell-by date.”

He added that many tenants are living in cold, damp flats, which are served by crumbling external stairs with often jagged, broken railings.

Mr Ó Laoghaire said: “Ultimately, what’s needed is a very significant project. The council tells us it is looking at a tendering process for some kind of regeneration for these apartment complexes and, while that’s welcome, there does need to be a level of urgency to this.

“I am not totally convinced the council is investing that level of urgency, so I will continue to raise this, and my council colleague Joe Lynch will continue to raise this.”

Cork City Council was asked for comment.