THE TRUE COST OF NO BUDGET FOR REPAIRS AS CEILING FALLS IN ON GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE

GRANDMOTHER-OF-TWO Lorraine Mulready is one of the council house residents who can’t receive maintenance due to lack of council funds.

Far from one of the ‘astronomical’ requests for routine maintenance the council says they receive, the ceiling of Lorraine’s Finian’s Park home has fallen in, and she is concerned for the safety of the two infants she cares for.

‘What started as a small leak when I reported it, has now crashed into the middle of my sitting room, and I just think it doesn’t make sense to be taking money away from the council, when people need their houses fixed,’ she told the Drogheda Independent.

‘Houses and the people who live in them should come first, as we have to live here, and we won’t be able to live here much longer. I know it’s important where people park, but we should come first, and if the council came weeks ago when it was just a small job, this would never have happened.’

Lorraine, who looks after grandsons Derek (1) and Alex (3), has lived in her house for over ten years, and says she has rarely received routine repairs.

‘I just paid to have a new floor put in, and now that is ruined,’ she adds. ‘ The ceiling could have come in on the children and where would we be? And even though I heard we were mentioned in last Monday’s meeting, no one has still called me back or come to see the damage.”

Cllr David Saurin raised Lorraine’s case last Monday and agreed that is the matter has been addressed immediately, the situation would not have worsened.

‘It is totally unacceptable,’ he commented. ‘I saw it for myself and what was a small hole with a leak, is now a massive hole in the celling, and we should be prioritising and treating cases like this as emergencies before they get worse.’

In response to that, CEO Joan Martin said the number of requests for house maintenance is ‘astronomical’ with an enormous number of people looking for repairs.

‘ There is no longer any funding for either routine or emergency repairs’ she said. ‘As of today, there is no funding available for anything.’

The budget was being discussed in the context of the money which will be lost in reducing the cost of parking in Drogheda from €1.20 to €1 per hour.

‘We have no way of knowing whether we will lose money on this, and maybe more people will come into the town and spend money as a result,’ said Cllr Culhane. ‘I full support the reduction and if you charge less, you will get more,’ added Cllr Joanna Byrne.

Cllr Oliver Tully has always opposed the motion, and says he agrees with the CEO.

‘I am not in favour of the reduction, and I have fought for the budget, and the loss of 20c will impact the monthly and yearly contributions considerably,’ he said.

Cllr Paul Bell also voted against the pay parking issue, even though he said in principal, he may have supported the Sinn Fein motions. His concern about losing free parking for workers has been evident all along. ‘A picture is being presented of equalisation with Dundalk, but there is no free parking in Dundalk for workers and my concern is that free parking in Drogheda at Mell and Donore will now be in jeopardy, when we should be expanding it,’ he said. ‘I am opposing the price reduction.’