Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
AFTER A MASSIVE protest in Dublin’s city centre, there was a slight shift in the government’s position this week on homes impacted by the mica scandal and the support required to help them fix their crumbling homes.
Homeowners are demanding that a government scheme, which was launched just last year after years of campaigning, particularly by communities in Donegal, be changed to cover 100% of the costs associated with fixing their homes.
Their houses were built with defective building blocks containing muscovite mica, a mineral that absorbs moisture, reducing the strength of the foundations their homes stand on and the walls holding up their rooves.
Current estimates put the number of impacted homes at between 5,000 and 6,000 but this week House Minister Darragh O’Brien admitted the real number could be twice that.
Homeowners have complained that the scheme is poorly-designed and inaccessible to many.
Cabinet was recently told that just 450 of the thousands of impacted homeowners in Donegal had applied so far. Many say they cannot afford the €5,000 initial mica test that is required to apply for a grant, while others say the works on their homes would still costs them tens of thousands of euro even if they got the highest grant through the scheme.
This week, following a meeting with a number of impacted homeowners who were at the Dublin protest, Minister O’Brien proposed a working group to identify and address outstanding issues and costs.
But in Donegal, families who have been trying to get help from the government for the last decade say they are not going to hold their breaths.
This week The Journal spoke to four homeowners about their stories.
“I think my house was built in 2004 but I bought it in 2007. It was within ten years I was seeing cracks.”
From there, things got increasingly worse for Valerie Smyth as she noticed dampness inside her home. She discovered the wool insulation between the inner and outer leaf walls was “saturated” and had to be removed and replaced with insulating beads, at a cost of €4,000.
“Still the dampness kept coming in. We had little porches and we thought maybe it was from the roof so we replaced the rooves but that made no difference either.”
Damp walls inside Valerie's home.
At this stage Smyth said she had no idea that it was the walls of her home that were absorbing moisture and beginning to crumble.
“Mica wasn’t even a word that was around then.”
She began attending local meetings with other homeowners who had issues with their houses and this is how she eventually realised mica was causing her problems.
I have got my test results back and I have 16% mica [in the concrete blocks]. Apparently the rule is that 1% mica is equal to 5% weaker blocks and mine is 16%.
She said she has damp in all of her downstairs rooms.
Advertisement
“About a year ago I got a wall replastered and it never dried, you can see a water line, even today, on the bottom, so that says to me that the whole bottom of my house is saturated all the time. So the wall was plastered but it was never painted because it never dried.”
Damage to the walls inside Valerie's home.
Smyth said she was told that for a full demolition and rebuild, even with a government grant from the scheme, she would have to come up with €70,000 herself.
“It was 2001 my house was built in. I bought it from a builder at the time, he had it half built and I said it would buy it from him when it was built. I came across it driving up the road one day, my wife saw it and she thought it was the dream home sitting here.”
In 2010, following a winter of bad frost, Karl Murtagh noticed cracking on one of the gable walls and a tile broken on the roof.
Image shows the extent of the damage at Murtagh's home. Karl Murtagh
Karl Murtagh
It was a roofer who came to look at the roof and saw the cracks who first mentioned he may have mica in his house.
I had an engineer come out and when I was looking at him I saw his face go white when he was looking up at my house. He said to me; ‘I don’t want to alarm you, but I suppose by saying that I am alarming you, you need to take down that gable or put a structure up against it because it’s going to crush your conservatory’.
“He said it was going to fall at any stage, that there would be a vortex of wind and it would suck the wall out, just because it was so weak.”
Cracks in the walls of Karl Murtagh's home. Karl Murtagh
Karl Murtagh
Murtagh said he had his blocks tested in 2014 and was told they were 36.7% mica. This test cost him €300 – impacted homeowners say the same test costs around €5,000 now.
He has managed to do “a quick fix” on one gable wall of his home, but now he says the other side of the house is just as bad and he cannot afford to fix it, even with a government grant.
Josephine Kelly and Seán McGee
“We built or house ourselves, we started in 2002 and everything was grand, perfect. Then it was that bad winter in 2010 we noticed a lot of cracking and we thought it was the plaster. The following year was bad as well, it seemed to be getting worse.”
“I noticed it first in our clothes line, we had blocks holding up our clothes line and they were crumbling away,” Josephine Kelly said. “Then the story about mica was starting to appear so I had a feeling that’s what the problem was.”
The entire outer leaf of the house had to be removed and replaced.
In 2017, they got a €30,000 loan from their local Credit Union and paid for outer leaf replacement.
“When they [the builders] took down the outer leaf they said it was the worst blocks they had ever seen and they had done a few mica houses,” she said.
Although they had extensive work done to replace their external walls, now they have started to notice cracking inside the house.
Related Reads
'We don't have the definitive figure': Housing Minister says number of mica-affected homes could be higher
The Mica controversy explained: Here's why thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin to protest today
“We built our house with loans from the Credit Union, then we had to go back to the Credit Union to fix the outer leaf. I think we’re going to have to go back again now because the inside is cracking,” Josephine said.
Image shows the rubble from the outer leaf of Josephine and Seán's home.
Their family is one of many impacted by this scandal who now cannot even afford the mica test on their home that is required to apply for the government’s grant scheme.
“Every penny we have is going to the Credit Union, we can’t even get on that first step. I would like to know, just to know what’s happening with our house but I can’t call an engineer, we don’t even have the couple of hundred euro.”
‘Never settled in your own house’
For these homeowners and their families, it has been a devastating and intensely stressful time.
“I went through a bad time, to be honest with you, probably two or three years of crying, hatred, being angry,” Karl Murtagh said.
Valerie Smyth said the last month in particular has been very stressful for her:
“In the last month there was a lot of exposure on the problem and it was kind of at the same time as I was getting my results back, so it all came to a head.
“And then we have these forums to talk to one another and everyone is sharing pictures of their homes and there’s this sense of community but it’s also overwhelming and it makes you think about a problem that you were holding back in your mind, trying to get on with life.
It definitely affected my work too and I had to take off some days, they’ve been very good to me allowing me to do that but I have to be able to go back to working and not just thinking about mica all the time.
“Because we weren’t listened to, it put extreme pressure on all the people who have the problem. We had to become campaigners and we’re all just people who do ordinary jobs.”
Josephine and Seán said it helps them to be able to talk about the problem, whether that is with each other or neighbours in the community who are going through the same issues. But it takes its toll.
“Our wee girl, she’s 11 and she’s been reared in a mica house, that’s all she’s ever known. But she leaves the room when we talk about it. And we try our best not to talk about all the time but it is all we talk about,” Josephine said.
“It’s been hard. I used to console myself at night that I could be on out a boat, on one of the migrant boats and things could be worse. That was my consolation that at least I still had a roof over my head, that’s what you have to do.”
Seán said the hardest part is “not knowing when this is going to end”.
Will this house be okay? We’ve fixed the outside for now but you’re looking and you’re seeing cracks – is that another crack? – and you’re never going to be settled in your own house.
He said he believes the government has been “playing politics” over the last week with their comments about the plight of homeowners.
“They’re trying to just soften the blow and make out everything is going to be okay. But when everything quietens down it’ll be back to the same thing again, another seven years of talks and talks and talks.
“I wouldn’t trust the Irish government, and I don’t think many people would, to keep your house up.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
40 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'A road to nowhere': Parents' despair and anger at broken system for kids with additional needs
41 mins ago
539
6
Paying Tribute
'He tried': Trump softens tone as Starmer seeks to tie him down to Ukraine and tariff pledges
1 hr ago
2.8k
37
New Mexico
Police 'keeping everything on the table' in deaths of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa
Updated
2 hrs ago
95.5k
75
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say