Tag Archives: Department of Housing

CLARE County Council insists it requires the full €15 million government funding package to ensure the proposed transfer of Shannon Heritage sites proceeds. The council has consistently argued that assuming ownership of Shannon Heritage sites can’t have any significant impact on services or commercial rates in Clare, which it believes demonstrates their case for the full funding package it has requested. In order to secure the future of the heritage assets and employees, the Department of Housing told the Clare Champion the Shannon Airport Group has had extensive engagement with the relevant local authorities since early 2021. “Shannon Airport Group continues to engage with Clare County Council in relation to the proposed transfer of Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Craggaunowen, Knappogue Castle, and Cliffs of Moher Retail Outlet. “As part of its engagement with the Shannon Airport Group, Clare County Council identified a funding gap for which it sought Government assistance to enable it to take over the sites. The …

AN EXPERT engineer has described the causative link between pyrite and the cracking of affected homes in Clare as “abundantly clear, categoric and incontrovertible”. Simon Beale and Associates sent a detailed report on behalf of Clare County Council to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), last month. The documentation, seen by The Champion runs to over 1,000 pages. It was compiled on foot of queries raised in December by the DHLGH over the original report submitted last July to make the case for Clare’s inclusion on the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. In his latest report, Mr Beale noted the the Department had “requested that Clare County Council demonstrate the link between the building damage and defective concrete blockwork by showing clear evidence of oxidation of pyrite to form other minerals, the presence of secondary minerals and gypsum production”. As part of the process of responding to the DHLGH, five homes owned by Clare County Council, located …

CONCERNS over the pressure of forestry and farming activities on the catchment of Lough Graney in North East Clare have prompted its selection for an EU-funded project.  The Lough Graney catchment, which is made up of eight water bodies, is to benefit, alongside five other catchments nationally, from inclusion in the Waters of LIFE project. The scheme was launched last week in Kilmallock, County Limerick, by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan.  Managed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), the strategic project involves 16 partners including government departments, State agencies, local authorities, and local development companies, with an overall budget of €20 million.   The aim of the project, which will run until 2028, is to reverse the long-term trend of decline in Ireland’s “high status” waters. High status rivers are those considered to be in pristine condition and rich in biodiversity and Ireland is one of a small number of EU …

“BRAVE decisions” on housing people fleeing Ukraine has been called for, as the numbers seeking refuge in Clare continue to rise.  Councillor Mary Howard, called at the April meeting of the local authority, for a centralised facility to coordinate the distribution of support to the 2,000 Ukrainians known to have come to Clare to-date. Responding to the government’s outline this week of proposals relating to accommodation, the Fine Gael member said the time had come to “stop talking and start doing”.  Earlier this month, Council CEO Pat Dowling told elected members that people are being accommodated at 16 venues in seven locations, but that the authority had been mandated to step-up its support efforts. This week, the Department of Housing has announced that a Director of Service level member of staff at each local authority, along with a small team, will be assigned to coordinate the local response to the crisis.  “We now need very brave decisions,” said Councillor Howard. …

RESEARCH by the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) shows that up to 18 housing estates in the county could have defective concrete blocks.  Dr Martina Cleary said that information received by the action group also suggests that up to eight public buildings could be affected. “We have had contact from people all over the county about suspected pyrite,” she said. “It is very important to say that this is suspected pyrite, as testing might not yet have been done in some cases. Our group has had contact and photos and videos sent in from people in every corner of Clare, and more people are coming forward all the time.” Clare County Council is still in a process of negotiation with the Department of Housing over a report submitted last July to make the case for inclusion in the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. Meanwhile, the scheme itself is being revised after a government decision last November. While homeowners had hoped …

It has been a long time since there was a parade in Ennis. The pandemic put paid to so many public celebrations. That’s why, on Saturday last when over 200 people took to the streets, there was a very brief sense that normal life was returning. There were people of all generations with banners and flags flying, grandparents gently steering small children along in the colourful crowd of marchers that set off, behind a Garda escort, from Áras Chontae an Chláir. But this parade was far from normal. There were no smiles as the gathering assembled at its focal point at The Height, in the shadow of The O’Connell Monument. Instead, stress and worry were clearly visible on the faces of children, parents and grandparents as they heard calls for action on their pyrite-damaged homes. They listened to stories of others whose homes, like theirs, have started to crack and crumble. They heard of the fear and insecurity for those …

THE founder the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) has been sharply critical of the Department of Housing over ongoing delays in access to the financial support scheme.  Further testing is currently being carried out “to satisfy the Department of the linkage between the deterioration of the blockwork and the confirmed presence of pyrite in the samples”, the Council has told The Champion. It follows queries raised by the Department in December, to which the authority responded shortly before Christmas.  Dr Martina Cleary said the Department, which is still the considering the report seeking access to the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, is now asking the Council “to look for a needle in a haystack”. She also questioned why the authority did not test its own housing stock at the start of last year, in tandem with the testing of five private homes located across the county.  The Crusheen woman said both the expert engineer and the testing laboratories engaged by …

SERIOUS questions have been raised over the council’s application to have the defective blocks grant extended to Clare, The Champion has learned. Despite an assurance from the Housing Minister in August that a decision would be made within “a matter of weeks”, his Department is challenging several aspects of the council’s submission. In November, Minister Darragh O’Brien told Clare Oireachtas members his Department’s concerns were not “insurmountable”. However, a letter issued on Monday poses far-reaching questions. The document queries whether pyrite is the only cause of damage to the five homes tested. “It is unclear whether the presence of pyrite has manifested itself in structural wall damage, or if the walls are damaged either wholly or partially by another cause,” the seven-page letter states. The document adds that while the technical report has confirmed excessive amounts of pyrite, “it has not been stated however that the damage which has been documented has manifested due to the presence of reactive pyrite, …