Tenants of development on Cork's northside ‘overrun’ with rats due to dumping

Social housing tenants in a northside development say they are “overrun” with rats attracted by fly-tipping in the basement carpark under their northside homes.

Cork City Council tenants in Shandon Way, a 13-apartment square located off John Philpott Curran St at the top of Shandon, say they have been plagued by illegal dumping in their underground carpark since the development opened two decades ago.

Yesterday afternoon, two car bays were filled with construction debris, tyres, sheets of cardboard, and household refuse.

One resident said the problem was caused by non-residents coming into the development through the open gateway and illegally dumping in the unsupervised area.

“We’ve had desperate problems with dumping, going back nearly as long as I’m in here, and we’ve also had guys coming in drinking in the carpark, gangs of them.

“I’d be frightened of my life of them,” he said.

Another tenant said she was “terrified” of rats attracted to the development by the dumping.

“We’re overrun with rats, I see them on the walls outside at night,” she said.

“We had the very hot weather and I couldn’t open a window for fear they’d get in.”

Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, said illegal dumping was an ongoing problem across the city.

“The problem is that after the financial crisis of 2008, local authorities had their funding slashed by central government and the workforces slashed as well, and we still don’t have the right sized budget or staff,” he said.

“I’ve raised this several times with the housing minister. The Government needs to give Cork City Council greater resources.”

Cork City Council was asked for comment.