Cork city tenant says he's 'lucky to be alive’ after masonry falls from window

A council tenant living in dilapidated social housing flats on Cork’s southside has said he was lucky not to be killed by a piece of masonry which fell two storeys, striking him on the shoulder.

Colm Olden, aged 54, who has lived in the six-decade-old flats on Clashduv Rd for more than 18 years, said he was using the outdoor tap in his yard when a piece of windowsill hit him.

The Clashduv Rd flats are the same design and vintage as Noonan’s Rd flats, which are currently earmarked for demolition.

“I was bending over, using the hose, when I got a wallop on my back. If I was a few inches back, it would have hit me on the head,” he told The Echo.

“It was a piece of the windowsill from the top floor of the flat upstairs, and it weighed more than 1kg.

“It left a right mark on my shoulder. If it had hit me on the head, it would surely have killed me,” he added.

Mr Olden said he has repeatedly drawn the council’s attention to issues with his home, but to no avail.

He suffers from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which he said is exacerbated by the damp and mould which can be seen in several rooms in the flat.

“I’ve had to replace several units in the kitchen, and it’s a constant battle keeping the mould at bay, and we’re spending €70 a week trying to heat the place,” he said.

“We’ve had terrible trouble with rodents too. I woke one night to find a huge rat on the bed. I tried to bundle him up in the duvet and get him out of the house. I have an industrial rat trap in one bedroom, and you can hear them travelling along the ceilings all the time.” According to Cork City Council’s tenants’ handbook, tenants are responsible for dealing with rodent infestations in their homes.

However, several tenants have said rats and mice are running through the connected ceilings and walls and coming in from neighbouring, overgrown, and litter-strewn gardens.

Similarly, multiple tenants have complained of crumbling masonry in the flats.

Mr Olden said his home had suffered water damage on multiple occasions from the upstairs flat, which is currently unoccupied.

“In fairness to the council, they supplied me with a new bed and linen the last time, but it’s never-ending. These flats are years past their sell-by date, and they should be knocked,” he said.

“At this stage I’m appealing to the council to move me to a new home.” 

The flats at Clashduv Rd and Noonan’s Rd, are three-storey maisonettes of a style introduced across Cork city in the 1960s by then city architect, Eamon O’Byrne.

Last December, The Echo surveyed all 160 of the city’s O’Byrne flats, receiving a 59% response rate. Black mould was an issue cited by 85% of respondents, while the same number said they had trouble heating their homes, and 65% reported persistent issues with rodents.

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

“The Clashduv Rd flats are of significant age, and presenting with maintenance works that are to be expected of properties of this nature.

“The council continues to invest in housing maintenance and improvement programmes and operates a responsive maintenance system to address urgent repairs in these and similar complexes.”