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A CAMPAIGN TO be launched later today will highlight the “staggering” number of people living in poor conditions in a Dublin South Inner City complex.
Residents of Oliver Bond House are now calling on Dublin City Council (DCC) to fast-track regeneration plans for the area and put in place immediate interim improvements which will make the estate more liveable.
They say they have been told that it will be “at least 15 years” before they can expect completion of the long-promised regeneration programme.
The new campaign, ‘We’re Sick Waiting – A Campaign for Better Housing Conditions’, claims that 83% of residents are living with mould and damp and that nearly three quarters have poor insulation which makes it impossible to keep their homes warm.
Over 55% of residents have been told by a medical practitioner that damp, mould or sewage is contributing to ill-health in their families, according to campaigners, while over one in three (35%) also report sewage problems.
Over a third also report that they continue to have problems with pests, including rats, and double that number say that they do not have adequate pest and vermin refuse storage facilities.
Built in 1936, Oliver Bond House is one of the oldest and largest flat complexes in Dublin City with 397 units and approximately 1,200 residents.
Residents said they are “extremely disappointed and disheartened” with the response from DCC and the Government in response to their requests for interim improvements.
They added that they have persistently asked DCC to carry out an independent environmental survey of damp conditions in flats, and to act on the findings and have also asked for a definite timetable for regeneration works and the plan for decanting, where families are moved while work takes place.
“None of these requests have been responded to adequately,” said residents, which they added has “damaged the community’s appetite” for engaging with the council and their trust in the overall regeneration plans.
The survey on environmental conditions was distributed to all 395 households in the estate in March 2021 by the Oliver Bond Residents Group.
Nearly half of the surveys, totalling 186, were completed, indicating the pressing importance that current dire housing conditions represents to residents, according to the organisers.
“We are literally sick waiting, physically and mentally,” said Lynette Lyons, a member of the Oliver Bond Residents’ Group.
“We are living with damp and mould that we have to wipe down weekly. We can’t keep clothes in our wardrobes. We have to wipe down our children’s schoolbags. Most of the windows are ill-fitting, old and draughty. It’s impossible to keep the flats warm.”
She added that older people and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the cold and damp conditions.
“It’s frustrating to see our dreams and our rights to adequate housing pushed back, year after year.”
Lyons added that residents are “realistic” and know that regeneration won’t happen immediately.
“But we just can’t be asked to wait another 15 years – until 2036 – for it to be completed. This regeneration plan was first presented eight years ago and it still hasn’t even started,” she said.
“An entire generation will be forced to live in dire, unsafe and unhealthy conditions in the meantime. Many older residents will pass away in these conditions.”
Over two-thirds are concerned about anti-social behaviour and criminal activity in and around the complex, which, they say, is often by outsiders and is having a negative impact on young people in particular.
Residents will be setting out six areas at today’s launch where they believe interim improvements can be made immediately, by replacing the windows, painting balconies and stairwells, erecting external gates for improved safety and security.
They also want to improve children’s play facilities and ensure more timely maintenance while trying to improving consultation and engagement with locals.
Nearly 70% of residents said that they have not made a complaint to Dublin City Council because they don’t think it will make any difference.
In a statement, Dublin City Council said that the regeneration is a ‘priority’ in its programme of doing up older flat complexes in the city and it is currently finalising its plan to do so.
The council also said that it ‘actively engages’ with residents to address issues brought to their attention.
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They’re sick waiting.
And we’re sick paying.
Workers in social housing pay 15% of their wages. But don’t get to own it after 25 years.
Our retail workers can’t afford private landlord prices, workers who buy someone else’s second home/mortgage.
I feel for the people who are gonna be lumbered with some of the ‘ lovely ‘ folk from that complex when they are re housed elsewhere, same thing happened with O’Devaney flats, corpo moved them as far from there as they could, turned parts of bray in to a kip.
@Uncle Montys oaf: No one from O’Devaney moved to Bray.
@Uncle Montys oaf: Can you Tell us about the bad experiences you’ve with some people from Oliver Bond House?
Maybe get a job and stop living off the hardworking people who are paying for your keep
If the residents contributed to a sinking fund after a few months they would have enough in it to begin work.
Rory J Leonard: if SF had a plan it would probably be to build new housing so that these people could be moved while making the Flats more liveable in the interim. Sadly it would not be in scenic Phoenix Park. They would likely choose some empty council land that is not being developed due to politics or NIMBYism. Perhaps in your neighborhood . . . .
Crazy alternative plan, but why not get a job in another county where rents are cheaper!
put MM on trial
i have seen the dire conditions there, outside dog poop etc. i say knock them down and rebuild and rehouse the people in meantime.
@michael macken:
That is exactly what needs to be done, Michael!
If our Taoiseach operated under a similar political system to China, he could Decree that a Section of the many under utilised Phoenix Park’s 1,700 acres, be set aside for the construction of a large number of modern apartment blocks.
Oliver Bond tenants could then be temporarily relocated, whilst their existing homes were given that long overdue make over. This could all be achieved possibly within five years, not fifteen.
And it wouldn’t take long to fill all of those almost-new homes in The Park when all done and dusted!
But this not China! So under our system, how can this particular type of conundrum be solved expeditiously?
Perhaps SF has a masterplan in the works for a solution. We await with bated breath!
@Rory J Leonard: if our Taoiseach operated under a similar system to China the flats would be bulldozed to make way for fancy condos and the residents sent to a labour camp for complaining….!
@michael macken: and whose dogs are popping, whose rubbish is just flung into the grounds, who burnt the pitch and playground? The millions of tourists and visitors to the flats every year?
@Paul Clancy: The part time Taoisach Martin and the policy of FFG are the problem. As for China…A lot of criminal bankers. Developers, who were facilated by members of the above named parties would have deservedly have been put against a wall .
@Rory J Leonard: China can get stuffed for all the ruination it’s done over the past few years.
They moved resident’s from Dolphin House Flat’s while they were being renovated and families that wanted move back got a place. Why not offer same scheme to Oliver Bond resident’s.
@Mick McGuinness: as long as they only give flats to people who work locally.
If you never worked, why should you be housed beside where all the jobs are, while workers in those jobs commute for hours?
have your say