THE PRIORY HALL debacle has endured for almost 24 months now and while the residents battle with Dublin City Council and the various lending institutions to which they have now stopped paying their mortgages, their homes are deteriorating beyond any possible repair.
Damp walls, spot flooding, broken pavements, overgrown green areas, ripped plasterboard, exposed brick, shattered windows and unidentified stains are just some of the problems that can be seen by the naked eye.
Below the surface issues, the complex remains a fire hazard – a death trap for the 256 residents who were evacuated on 17 October 2011.
The following images were taken last weekend and show the Donaghmede development two years on:
The fallout has seen Dublin City Council spend about €3 million including payment for 24-hour security at the premises, new housing arrangements for residents and legal costs.
It returns to the Supreme Court next month hoping that a High Court order deeming it responsible for paying for temporary accommodation will be overturned.
If the council is successful in its appeal, the residents will have to start paying rent, while their mortgage payments continue to fall due.
The majority have now stopped meeting their mortgage repayments in the hope that it will spark action from their lenders.
Dublin City Council has said that it has acted in the best interests of the residents, insisting that it is pursuing the issue through the courts in an attempt to clarify matters.
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