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'Talk is cheap': Irish-Americans confront Taoiseach in New York on mica scandal

Micheál Martin sat down with two Irish-Americans who confronted him on the mica issue.

THE IRISH-AMERICAN COMMUNITY are behind the homeowners in Donegal and around the country who are affected by the mica scandal.

That is the message of two protesters who confronted the Taoiseach at his New York hotel today.

Affected homeowners in Ireland have demanded that a government scheme, which was launched just last year after years of campaigning, particularly by communities in Donegal, be changed to cover 100% of the costs associated with fixing their homes.

Their houses were built with defective building blocks containing muscovite mica, a mineral that absorbs moisture, reducing the strength of the foundations their homes stand on and the walls holding up their roofs.

The worst-hit counties are Donegal and Mayo but the Department of Housing has also received requests from local authorities in Sligo, Clare, Limerick and Tipperary to engage in the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme.

The cost of the redress scheme has previously been estimated at €1.5 billion but Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has said that the final bill could be significantly higher

PHOTO-2021-09-22-12-40-36 Taoiseach sits down with Mica protesters Jarlath Doherty and Caroline Doherty in New York.

Caroline Doherty from Inch Island, Donegal, who has been living in New York for 21 years, said the Irish-American campaign is ramping up, with many wanting to support their loved ones back home in Ireland. 

“We came out today to show the Taoiseach that this is important and to keep it in his sights,” she said.

She said a committee of Irish-Americans living in New York is soon to be set up to campaign on the Mica issue.

Irishman Jarlath Doherty, who also lives in New York, and who also sat down with the Taoiseach at Fitzpatrick’s Hotel in Manhattan, told The Journal that they weren’t expecting the Taoiseach to stop and speak with them.

“But he sat down and had a chat,” he said. Micheál Martin listened to their concerns, they said, adding that they told him that this was now an Irish-American issue of concern.

“I said talk is cheap. He can tell us whatever he wants to tell us, but what are they going to do about it?” asked Caroline Doherty.

“Children in Donegal want a home they can put a Christmas tree up in this year,” she said, stating that dealing with the issues is a matter of urgency at this stage.

The campaign is “not stopping in New York”, she said. “Boston has also lit the candle as well,” she said.

The Irish community in Boston has launched a fundraising and awareness campaign to support victims of the Mica housing scandal.

Martin McKinney, who emigrated to Boston from Donegal in the late 2000s, told IrishCentral this month that more than $10,000 had been raised in just under a week.

“Every city in this country are behind the people in Donegal, and not just in Donegal, all the families affected,” said Caroline Doherty today.

The lack of action on the issue by the government is “embarrassing” she said. “The homes look like they belong in a war zone,” she added. 

“There is going to be a shake up in this government” if a 100% redress is not delivered, they both said.

“No one is going to vote for Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil if they don’t deal with it,” she added.

The Taoiseach said today that 100% redress for homeowners affected by Mica remains on the table.

Speaking in New York, the Taoiseach backed Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath’s statement that full redress for those affected by the defective building blocks remains possible.

“There is ongoing discussion and the representative body for the owners will be meeting with the Department officials again tomorrow, they’re due to meet Darragh O’Brien after that.

“The target is that we will bring these talks to a close by the end of the month and a proposal to the Cabinet in early October.

“It’s complex because you’ve a whole range of issues, but the whole purpose of the talks is to get to a position where we can get houses repaired or rebuilt, have a system to do it properly in a much faster timeline than envisaged in a way that does not impose undue hardship or impositions on people.”

The Taoiseach said the prospect of an affected home collapsing is a danger.

“There was a number of issues when I met homeowners in the summer. Firstly, the administration of the scheme to speed up the timeline. Because of the numbers involved and, yes, the dangers involved. That’s why we want to get these talks concluded.”

In a bid to allay the fears of thousands families whose homes are crumbling, McGrath said today in the Dáil that a “very significant enhancement and improvement” of the existing mica scheme will be agreed soon.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar also spoke about the Mica issue at tonight’s Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting. He said an enhanced scheme is needed to help those who have to contend with Mica in their homes.

He said this was being worked on by the Housing Department and funding would need to be secured from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform before it goes to Cabinet.

He said work was continuing on this and all were very much aware of what those affected are having to contend with.

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    Mute Tony Gordon
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 9:40 PM

    So someone who has lived in the US for 21 years wants to tell the Irish government how to spend tax payers money?

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 9:51 PM

    @Tony Gordon: heard it all now.

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    Mute Andy mc Laughlin
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 9:57 PM

    @Tony Gordon: don’t underestimate the power of the Irish diaspora.

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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:02 PM

    @Tony Gordon: The reason they are in NY is because the likes of Michael and his peers have mismanaged our country to a standstill.

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    Mute Donal Desmond
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:06 PM

    @Tony Gordon: Well the citizens of Ireland have no control over the government’s spending of tax money. Billions on a hospital, infrastructure, wasted. Billions of taxpayers money used to repay for the gangsterism of banks and developers facilated by the same government. The Zappone scandal? It was the taxpayers who would have picked up the bill for that fiasco also.

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    Mute
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:09 PM

    @Tony Gordon: And fair play to them too, to have the get up to actually go and do something about an issue that’s affecting their families and friends back home in such an insidious way!

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    Mute Jason Walsh
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 4:33 PM

    @Tony Gordon: someone needs to

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    Mute Declan Doherty
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:03 PM

    I feel very sorry for anyone affected by mica or pyrite issues but I still don’t get why the tax payer is on the hook for it.

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    Mute
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:10 PM

    @Declan Doherty: Because the state didn’t regulate properly where they were supposed to.

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    Mute Andy mc Laughlin
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:14 PM

    @Declan Doherty: Because of the government’s prolonged lack of enforcing the regulations on the quarrys involved in suppling defective products. For the granting of planning permission to these quarry’s even though geological surveys showed the presence of destructive minerals. And believe it or not this could actually cause problems for the banking sector which don’t forget has already been bailed out. All these homes with mortgages are liabilities for the banks portfolios,the same portfolios used by the banks to secure finance from their creditors. I wonder if all the creditors to those banks know that a lot of the collateral offered to secure finance is now worthless.

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    Mute Thomas Smyth
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 1:23 AM

    @Andy mc Laughlin: You both seem to be mistaking the taxpayer for the government.

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    Mute Andy mc Laughlin
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 7:20 AM

    @Thomas Smyth: unfortunately for us the when the government need money guess where they get it?

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    Mute Eoin Roche
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:06 PM

    Still can’t figure out for the life of me how this became a problem to be mutualised onto all Irish taxpayers.

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    Mute Shaun Gallagher
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:12 PM

    @Eoin Roche: Did you say the same when your taxes has already fixed most of the houses in Dublin that had pyrite

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    Mute Andy mc Laughlin
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:16 PM

    @Eoin Roche: looks like this isn’t going away Eoin.

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    Mute Eoin Roche
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 11:15 PM

    @Shaun Gallagher: I did, but at €70,000 average state contribution to remediate houses in and around Dublin, we weren’t talking about 100% coverage or anything like it. There must be burden sharing across the industry and the insurance sector as well as with owners and banks, there is no justification for blank cheques from the exchequer for a private sector problem.

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    Mute Eoin Roche
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 11:17 PM

    @Andy mc Laughlin: I never suggested that it was.

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    Mute Shaun Gallagher
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 7:27 AM

    @Eoin Roche: I agree with this and I know it was a lot less but it was still 100% they got to fix the problem.

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    Mute Raymond Barry
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:31 PM

    The sense of entitlement from these “mica home owners” is shocking and frightening. This country is going down the tubes fast. Everybody wants everything for free. No wonder Ireland is known as “Treasure Island”.

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    Mute Tina Kelly
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:42 PM

    @Raymond Barry: what an ignorant comment. Come to Mayo and take a look at numerous entire estates with houses starting to crack and crumble, with no houses to rent or storage facilities to store belongings when houses soon have to be knocked. Educate yourself on the subject before crying entitlement please.

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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:48 PM

    @Raymond Barry: “Sense of entitlement from Mica Home Owners “? They bought houses, the houses should have been rock solid.

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    Mute Andy mc Laughlin
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 11:04 PM

    @Tina Kelly: don’t even respond to that type of ignorance

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    Mute Donal Desmond
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 11:45 PM

    @Raymond Barry: The banks and developers send a big thank you for that comment. As Martin stated..There was no bailout. Perhaps you could explain why Billions of Euros were paid ,and Billions more to be paid , for the criminal actions that made Ireland the treasure Island. FF/ Greens were in government when the taxpayers were forced to foot the bill. FG / So called Labour endorsed through austerity that the Banks and developers would get off the hook. Now you state the country is going down the tubes ? Wonder why ..The same toxic mix of FFG/ Greens that created this mess again in power and the circus continues.

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    Mute Tina Kelly
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 8:02 AM

    @Thomas Smyth: relax, im lucky to not have a mica/pyrite house, your few euros per week are safe from me

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    Mute John Duggan
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 9:41 PM

    Fair play, keep the lizard on his claws…

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 9:52 PM

    @John Duggan: there’s John boosting his testosterone by insulting others behind a keyboard. You go John.

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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:02 PM

    @Roy Dowling: Emigrants that left due to FFG policies would relish a chance to tell Mehole to get in his box with regards to Mica, especially if family back here are affected.

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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:01 PM

    Martin says full redress is possible when his forked tongue really means just about anything.

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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:09 PM

    €1, 500,000,000 or more bill. I’ve heard the phrase:”Light Touch Regulation”, maybe this would have had something to do with that; I’ll try to look into it once I get out of this Covid stuff. My Utmost sympathies to the victims. There was a problem with Pyrite, also, I think, wasn’t there?

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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Sep 22nd 2021, 10:14 PM

    @John Hazelnut: And there was a problem with Priory Hall, also, as far as I remember.

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    Mute Cormac Byrne
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 8:22 AM

    Can someone explain to me who is responsible for this? Are firms who manufacture the cement/blocks to sell to builders responsible? Did they know that the quality of it was poor and contained mica? Can they test for it and if so did they knowingly do it anyway? Cheers

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    Mute Wade Wilson
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 9:58 AM

    How many billion were poured into Irish Water? And the children’s hospital? No one seemed to be worried about money then.

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    Mute michael macken
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    Sep 23rd 2021, 10:16 AM

    i always thought concrete was to repel water, not absorb it. imagine if all the damns in the world were made with mica, o dear

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