LIVING FOR MONTHS IN HOME HIT BY STORM
ANGER is growing among the elderly residents of a housing unit in Ballybunion who are still living with the effects of a storm two months after it hit their home, obliterating the front of the building.
They’re now forced to walk a much longer route to gain entry to the rear of the unit while the front remains under plywood hoarding and other makeshift repair measures amid security fears.
Local Sinn Féin County Councillor Robert Beasley is calling on the Respond housing agency, which oversees the unit, to provide permanent repairs urgently in the face of growing frustration and anger among residents who are struggling to understand how it’s taking so long to fix their home.
TWO months after it was badly damaged by a storm, a housing unit for elderly people remains in a state of serious disrepair to the frustration of everyone living there.
A large window and part of the structure at the front entrance to a housing unit in Ballybunion was blown down in a storm in late November.
Over two months later and the only steps taken to repair the damage amount to the erection of plywood and other materials in a temporary solution.
“This happened last November and we’re already in February now and the residents are still none the better for it,” local Sinn Féin County Councillor Robert Beasley said.
Nine people occupy the single-bedroom apartments inside the complex, single elderly people for the most part.
Meanwhile, two other elderly people on the housing list were to have moved in there prior to Christmas, but due to the damage are still waiting.
“It’s incredibly frustrating for everyone, for the two people waiting to get off the housing list and for at least three residents directly affected at the front of the building.”
The unit is located almost right on the cliffs above the Nun’s Beach, subject to the howling winds blowing in from the Atlantic all winter.
It is run by the voluntary housing agency Respond who informed Cllr Beasley this week of the imminent arrival of an engineer to survey the damage ahead of expected permanent repair works in a matter of weeks.
“Kerry County Council has major input into Respond. I’m calling on them to speed things up,” Cllr Beasley said.