Tag Archives: Priory Hall

00122463Priory Hall resident Stephanie Meehan with her children Oisin (right) and Cerys (then six months) at the Regency Airport Hotel , Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin in September 2011.

Stephanie writes:

I have emailed you on many occasions, regarding my situation in Priory hall. You have replied once.

On July 15th mine and my children’s lives changed forever, my beautiful, kind, caring Partner and father to my children took his own life. His name is Fiachra Daly. We miss him terribly.

My life will never be the same. My children’s lives will never be the same.

Fiachra was the happiest man on earth, he lived for myself, Oisin (7) and Cerys (2), he never suffered from any form of mental illness or depression, we had been together for 17 years and I never once witnessed any signs.

That is up until the week prior to his death, when we received demands from banks, looking for payment of arrears on a property that we can’t live in, asking us to fill out, yet again, forms to request an extension of our moratorium, all for a property we can’t live in through no fault of our own. The stress, the worry of not being able to provide a safe home for us, his young children, eventually took its toll, as it has on every resident.

He was obviously a silent sufferer, he never complained, he supported me, when I was feeling low, he hated the idea that he couldn’t provide a safe home for us, that I do know, but I thought we’d battle through this together. How wrong was I?

I now have no home, my children have no permanent home, but most importantly, I have no partner and my children have lost their wonderful dad. Our future, security and certainty changed the minute we were evacuated and not one thing has changed in two years, every email, phone call, letter seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

So I ask you, what will it take now for someone to listen and act on something that should’ve been dealt with two years ago and saved a lot of tax payers money and most of all saved a life?

Tom McFeely  {Priory Hall developer] walks around scot free, he’ll never suffer how we are suffering, he’ll never lose what I’ve lost. He’ll start again, I am left with a lifetime of heartache and my children will inherit that too.

Is there any justice in this country?

I’ve lost Fiachra, but I’ve not lost my voice.

Stephanie Meehan

Support The Priory Hall Residents (Facebook)

Previously: Priory Hall on Broadsheet

(Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland)

Thanks Orla

9030041890300417Residents of Priory Hall at the Four Courts in Dublin this morning

The Council has paid close to €3m to cover the rental and other costs for the residents who are unable to return to their homes built by bankrupt developer Tom McFeely.
However, since the case is currently in mediation between the residents, the council and the residents’ mortgage providers, the five-judge panel ruled it is in the best interests of all concerned parties to adjorn the appeal hearing until October 15.

 

Priory Hall appeal adjourned to allow mediation continue (Independent.ie)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

Meanwhile,

Screen Shot 2013-05-09 at 12.25.21A sympathetic typo of the same story earlier.

Thanks David M

Launched in March, 2007, at a party attended by Louise and Jamie Redknapp and Alan Hughes, the Belmayne estate in North Dublin was promoted as the last word in hi-tech, hi-sex living.

Absurd billboards appeared showing how your life would change once you dropped the necessary folding stuff.

The firm behind it has since gone bust.

It lay half-empty and even housed some of the evacuated  Priory Hall residents.

And now?

UP TO 300 houses and apartments in a north Dublin housing estate are in need of extensive repair work due to fire safety problems with the structure of the buildings.

The homes in Belmayne are near Priory Hall, the 187-apartment complex which was evacuated four months ago due to fire safety problems.

Some of the affected residents were rehoused in Belmayne by Dublin City Council.

An inspection by the Dublin Fire Brigade’s chief fire officer has revealed defects in the timber- framed construction of the houses which meant the buildings cannot meet fire safety regulations.

Fire Safety Problems Found In 300 Homes On Dublin Estate (Olivia Kelly, Irish Times)

Hundreds More To Be Forced Out Of Their Homes Over Fire Threat (Paul Melia, irish Independent)

Graham writes:

I’m one of the owners in Priory Hall. Like all apartment owners I only got to inspect my apartment after the construction was complete. While most of us did get surveys done engineers carry out what are called “visual inspections”. Any cosmetic issues were spotted and rectified however they do not knock in walls etc.

However many of the problems that have come to light since then were under the surface such as fire safety problems, wrong materials used on the roof, brickwork not properly attached to outer walls, structural problems in the underground car park, faulty electric & gas installation (the list goes on for 15 pages). Most of these problems are in the common areas which individual owners do not actually own. It took the council 2 years and cost them 40k to carry out the investigation that uncovered the defects.

My understanding is that the majority of developed nations have building controls where inspections are carried out during construction as obviously this is the best time to uncover any defects. Ireland does not. While I’m all for personal responsibility, I can’t see how any private owner could be expected to carry out a detailed inspection of an entire apartment complex after it was built. As with most European countries it really should be the role of Governmment. Our government & local councils abdicated that responsibility and Priory Hall and the apartment complexes that will come after it are the consequences of that.

 

Previously: STILL Out In The Cold

Some of the 240 evicted residents of the Priory Hall apartment complex in Donaghmede, Dublin protesting outside Leinster House literally moments ago. The residents have been living in temporary accommodation since October. The residents have asked for the government’s help against Priory Hall developer Tom McFeely, after he succesfully filed for bankruptcy in the UK earlier this month.

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)