The Crumbling Homes of Donegal - a ray of hope

I’m heading to Donegal this weekend. Malin Head has been my second home from birth. It’s perched on top of the Island with breathtaking scenery. Hospitality is second to none. Guinness in Farren’s bar or fresh seafood from the Seaview Tavern are first class. At night the land is lit by the Inistrahull Island lighthouse, perched on unbroken granitic gneiss rock battered by the elements for some 1.7 billion years. It is a paradise for us and many like us.

Perfect; except for the fact that many of the homes there and throughout the county and beyond are crumbling. Falling apart, around the families that worked so hard to buy or build them in a corner of Ireland, where investment is overlooked and opportunities are blighted by a lack of infrastructure.

Just weeks ago the 100% redress Party achieved phenomenal success in the Council Elections. In Malin Head, the candidate Ali Farren topped the poll. Those affected by the MICA crisis have had enough. The redress scheme operated by the Government has been criticised on a number of levels, not least that it will still leave those that are lucky enough to qualify (lucky enough doesn’t seem appropriate) out of pocket and incurring significant expenses.

Then there are those who do not qualify. The businesses and second home owners. The many from Northern Ireland who spend their weekends and holidays in beautiful Donegal. The homes that they hoped to retire to are falling to the rural turf.

Why?

Defective blocks. Mica. Minerals in building blocks that lead to a terminal condition, reducing homes to dust.

The Construction Products Regulations

REGULATION (EU) No 305/2011 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL lays down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products in the EU. Earlier this week The Commission openedan infringement procedure against Ireland for not carrying out market surveillance as required by the Regulation.

The Regulation requires authorities to monitor the manufacturing and placing on the market of construction products before they are used. According to the Commission's findings, the Irish authorities limited their monitoring activities to finished buildings or finalised civil engineering projects. The limitation of market surveillance activities to on-site measures endangers the free circulation of safe construction products.

The Commission is therefore sending a letter of formal notice to Ireland, which now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

The significance of a breach of the regulation should not be underestimated and may lead to claims in Damages from victims against the State. Those that do not qualify for any redress under the scheme and who had no hope, watch this space. Those that do qualify would do well to pay attention to the development. Read the small print.

Daniel Damian McGeady