‘They should have made homeowners aware’

A COUPLE whose house has been infected with pyrite has said Mayo County Council should not have authorised the sale of their house if it was aware of the potential presence of pyrites in the surrounding estate.

Kieran Ruane and Debs Burns have told The Mayo News that their house is ‘not a home’ after they tested positive for high levels of pyrite, meaning the house may require total demolition.

The couple’s house was sold to them by its previous owner in 2020 for €295,000, prior to them moving there in December 2020. 

As part of this transaction, the previous owner was obliged to pay a ‘clawback’ payment to the council.

Last week’s meeting of the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District heard claims that Mayo County Council sanctioned the sale of houses in Westport’s Páirc na Coille, despite being aware of the presence of pyrite as far back as 2017.

Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn raised the matter, alleging that senior council officials knew the concrete blocks in the estate could be defective at that time. He and the three other Westport-based councillors joined together in demanding a special meeting on the matter later this month.

Council officials did not address these claims at last week’s meeting, which was adjourned prematurely following heated exchanges.

Mayo County Council’s Director of Service for Housing, Tom Gilligan, said he ‘didn’t see any point’ in answering questions due the ‘anger and resentment’ displayed by councillors.

‘Anger and resentment’

THE houses in the estate were delivered by Mayo County Council and housing agency Respond as part of an affordable housing scheme in 2002. At least 32 of the 54 houses in Páirc na Coille have been confirmed to have pyrite, two of which have already been demolished.

The Sharkey Hill Community Centre has also been infected with pyrite, with cracks visible on the exterior of the building.

Mr Ruane and Ms Burns, who are rearing their two children, Eloise (3) and Leo (1), in one of these houses, say they do not want other homeowners to experience what they are going through.

The couple received confirmation that their home was infected with pyrite on March 4, 2022, when Leo was just over one day old.

“When it became known to them [the Council] in 2017 that there was an issue then, because they could not determine the extent of the issue or how many houses were affected, they should have made homeowners aware,” said Mr Ruane.

“I believe they should have intervened in any sale and not authorised the sale because MCC has to authorise the sale of any house, not even the house, not just 2017, any house ever sold there.”

Really, really upset

AN online meeting was held between Mayo County Council and residents in early 2021, during which the Council could not confirm whether every house had built with concrete from the same supplier.

Cracks have already begun to appear in the exterior and interior of the Mr Ruane and Ms Burns' semi-detached house, which they purchased as a starter home.

The couple have applied for the pyrite redress scheme, which entitles homeowners to a maximum compensation of €420,000 based on the square footage of the building.

Ms Burns, who is a native of Newport, told The Mayo News that pyrite has had ‘massive impact’ on them over the last two years, which she has described as ‘an absolute nightmare’.

“In the last two years of my life I’ve been crying a lot. I’ve been really, really upset about it. You buy a house, you want to do renovations you want to do something to your house and now you can't.”

A special meeting of Westport-Belmullet has been arranged for December 12 for representatives and council officials to discuss the issue in full.