“Every now and then we hear a bang and a piece of concrete falls outside” – families in limbo as the Glimmer saga continues
The lights on the Christmas tree are gleaming and Santa’s letters are written, but no amount of festive cheer can cover up the cracks in Yvonne and Paul McLaughlin’s home, which they’ve been told must be torn down to mica.
The couple and their seven children, aged between three and 17, are unaware of what the new year will bring, only that staying at their home on the Isle of Doagh on the Inishowen Peninsula in north Donegal is not an option.
Her house is one of thousands of houses across Co Donegal that have been infected with the mineral Mica, rendering blocks defective and houses rendered useless.
The little ones don’t know, but the older ones ask me if it’s safe to stay here
Perched on the edge of the Isle of Doagh, overlooking the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, her home towers over a rocky beach. It’s an otherworldly, beautiful place where the McLaughlins decided to build their dream home and raise their children.
The plan was for Paul to continue farming but live a stone’s throw from where he was born. That seems like a distant memory and now the cracks in the walls and the missing chunks of exterior brickwork tell their own story.
For his wife Yvonne, a nurse at Letterkenny University Hospital, the worst part is worrying about their children and not knowing where they will go. She is also concerned that by staying there they may inadvertently endanger their children’s health.
“Sometimes there’s a lot of mold — as a mom, all you think about is protecting it,” she said.
Their daughter Aine, 5, suffers from a persistent cough and has been referred to a specialist and Yvonne worries the condition of the house is a contributing factor.
As it stands, the pair say it’s in limbo. They received a report from an engineer in July 2020 that said the house would have to be demolished. Since then it has deteriorated greatly.
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Sharon O’Connor at her mica affected home in Malin, Co. Donegal.
However, they say progress on the revised Mica Redress Scheme has stalled. Whilst applying under the old scheme they have heard nothing from Donegal County Council.
“We try to keep it positive for the kids. Because we’re on the ocean, we’re in the full force of the elements,” Paul said.
Yvonne added: “We’re paying a mortgage and trying to raise the kids. How do we pay the rent if we move or have to pay for a modular house? We don’t have the money to buy that.”
Given the lack of suitable rental housing in the area, Yvonne said she’s really worried about where they might go, especially as there are nine of them. Moving far away is not an option for Paul as farming requires him to be local.
“The little ones don’t know, but the older ones ask me if it’s safe to stay here. The house can no longer be heated because the windows have been moved and the older people ask me why it is always so cold. So many of her friends are involved too,” Yvonne said.
Paul tries not to think about it, he said. Having built the house to the best possible specification, with under floor heating and solar panels, he was very proud of his family home.
“Now I just watch the cracks. Those are the children’s rooms up there,” he said, looking at the ceiling. “Every now and then we hear a bang and it’s a piece of concrete falling outside.”
Further north on the Inishowen Peninsula, near Malin Head, Sharon O’Connor tries to make her home festive, but she said the chill in the upstairs rooms would cool any heat you might feel.
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A mica affected house on the Isle of Doagh, Co. Donegal
She and her husband Martin built their home overlooking Dunaff Head almost 20 years ago. Ten years ago they started seeing cracks. Now they fill cracks all the time and Sharon, who has never had mice in the house, had a struggle to keep them out.
Like the McLaughlin house, the engineer’s report marked her house for demolition, that’s how big the mica is.
Despite worrying about what the future will bring, Sharon’s main concern is her elderly parents who live just around the corner. Her house also has broken blocks and she said her father, who is in his 70s, believes he will be dead before the whole saga is over.
Sharon said her parents really need to get out of the house but are reluctant to leave unless they have somewhere to go nearby and there isn’t. The houses of four of her brothers and two sisters also have mica. Only one sibling is unaffected.
“That’s all we know. We’re all condemned to demolition,” Sharon said.
It’s difficult to explain to government officials in their well-insulated offices in Leinster House what it’s like on the ground
Up to 20 families in Donegal have recently received confirmation that they are receiving urgent grants enabling them to move to alternative housing.
But the Donegal Mica Action Group is calling for urgent action across the board to help people in desperate circumstances across Co Donegal. Group chair Lisa Hone said delays in administering the reparation system were making life impossible for people.
“It’s difficult to explain to government officials in their well-insulated offices at Leinster House what it’s like here on the ground,” said Ms Hone, whose own home in Ramelton has been affected by mica.
“The enhanced redress system is not yet operational. The only way homeowners can apply is through the original program, which launched in the summer of 2020. Last month we marked the first anniversary of Darragh O’Brien’s announcement of the terms of the revised program.
“A year later, it no longer exists. We are still waiting for the implementation.
“The reality of what we are seeing is a lack of political will. If they really cared about people, that would be high on the agenda.”
Ms Hone described the situation as an impending tsunami, with more and more people being forced to leave their homes with nowhere to go. She said an entire infrastructure is needed immediately to help people navigate the program and find alternative housing.
Until the new scheme opens, applications can still be made to local authorities in Donegal or Mayo and processed under the current defective concrete block subsidy scheme, according to the Housing Department.
Work is underway to draft the necessary regulations to facilitate the expanded grant program, the department said.
“Existing applicants under the current scholarship program will not be penalized for being early risers and will retrospectively benefit from the increased scholarship amounts and allowances that will be available under the expanded program,” the department said in a statement.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/every-so-often-we-hear-a-bang-and-its-a-piece-of-concrete-falling-off-outside-families-in-limbo-as-the-mica-saga-rumbles-on-42241863.html “Every now and then we hear a bang and a piece of concrete falls outside” – families in limbo as the Glimmer saga continues