“What a woman” - Mayo councillors in praise of pyrite officer

Mayo councillors have been fulsome in their praise for the senior council official dealing with the Defective Concrete Block Scheme in the county and for supporting stricken families.

The monthly meeting of Mayo County Council heard that of the 460 applications for the Defective Concrete Block Scheme to assist households affected by pyrite, 341 were approved and 102 houses were completed.

While there were concerns regarding aspects of the scheme, councillors were fulsome in their praise for Clodagh Gleeson, the senior official in Mayo County Council dealing with the scheme.

“What a woman,” is how Erris-based councillor Gerry Coyle described her when discussing the scheme during the meeting.

“As someone said she takes to her job because she is talking to people after hours and explaining to them what is going on and how they should do it. What a fantastic job she is doing,” he said.

“Clodagh Gleeson is absolutely fantastic and she has worked so hard,” commented Crossmolina-based councillor Michael Loftus.

“I see some of the people I have talked to about it [scheme] and they are very happy with the way it has been dealt with and have been paid. I wonder what we have to do to satisfy everybody in relation to it?”

Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn said that the scheme has been criticised but he could not fault the work of Ms Gleeson in helping people affected.

“In fairness to Clodagh Gleeson and the team in the pyrite section, they have done a remarkable job. Anyone dealing with them has nothing but praise for Clodagh in particular in the way she has dealt with them.

“She has nearly personally taken over a lot of it herself and nearly taken on too much. A vast amount of work has been done there.

“I know from talking to people it is very stressful and it has been really difficult and some have had to take out substantial loans. There are people who are now in a good place with their houses completed and while they were never satisfied with the whole process they are in a better place,” he said.

However he acknowledged that the situation surrounding the Pairc na Coille estate in Westport 'is a very different animal' and 'has not been dealt with well in terms of recognising the difficulties there'.

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