Cork family living with 'tsunami of human sewage' in their home

A Cork man who is living with a terminal illness has said he fears that raw sewage leaking into his city council home will result in the death of his wife, who is also severely ill.

Pat Flanagan has lived with his wife Marie and their two sons in their Cork City Council home in Mahon on Cork’s southside for more than two decades.

Mr Flanagan, who is 64, is terminally ill and is confined to a wheelchair. He has been housebound since 2017.

His wife, Marie, is recovering from surgery for a serious heart condition.

In 2008, the council built an extension to the back of their home, consisting of a bedroom and a wet room.

Sewage pooling on floor

Mr Flanagan contends that during the works, the downpipe from the house’s upstairs bathroom was routed into a storm drain underneath the extension, rather than into a sewer.

Five months ago, sewage began seeping up through the wooden floor of the bedroom in the extension, and it now pools on the floor’s surface.

Mr Flanagan said that despite his wife’s best efforts to mop up the liquid, it remains a constant in the room.

“What started as a trickle is now a tsunami of human sewage. Our hearts are broken trying to mop up the sewage, and the smell is everywhere,” said Mr Flanagan

“You have 18 years of human sewage that was just going into the ground rather than a sewer, and now it’s all coming back up.

“My wife, who is recovering from heart surgery, has to sleep in conditions you would not put an animal to sleep in.”

Mr Flanagan claimed that the council had, last December, employed an independent drain engineer, and in their report, they confirmed that the downpipe was not connected to the sewer.

He said that he and his wife have put “probably over €200,000 in our own money” into the house in their time living there and did not wish to move, but were instead “begging” the council to help them.

Council aware of issues

Asked for a comment, a Cork City Council spokesperson said the local authority does not normally comment on individual cases, but it is aware of the issues in this case.

“Works are scheduled to proceed and can commence, once the required permission, that has been refused previously, is received from the tenant,” they said.

In an email sent to the council on February 26 and seen by The Echo, Mr Flanagan had expressed concern about the proposed works, asking how the council intended to proceed “without breaking my tiled floor, and the sewage pipe is enclosed by a pretty expensive panelling”.

Mr Flanagan requested that he be given written assurance that Cork City Council would be liable for any damage caused during the proposed works.

He told The Echo he was only asking that the council restore fixtures and fittings in his home once those works were complete, and in the meantime, with raw sewage pooling on their bedroom floor, he was deeply concerned for his wife’s health.

“I know I’m dying, but I’m literally afraid for Marie’s life, he said.