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Priory Hall Residents

Column I'd give my heart and soul to never have heard the words 'Priory Hall'

The residents evacuated from Priory Hall are the only people who have paid in any way for the problems uncovered in the buidling, writes Alison Doyle.

PRIORY HALL.

Two little words I’d give my heart and soul to never have heard.

How I wish I’d never seen the advertisement for the development in the newspaper and found myself excitedly placing a holding deposit with my now husband along with many other people my age all hoping to get on to the property ladder. How I wish we had never been taken in by the glossy sales brochure promising a home “perfectly placed to suit our every need”. Even now when I look at it, the complete irony of how the different materials being used to build it would give residents a sense of pride in the look of their home is not lost on me.

Proud is something I never really felt living there. We tried to put a brave face on in the nearly five years we lived there but deep down we knew something was not right, though never could we have dreamed it was as dangerous as we have since discovered. With the constant leaks and problems we started to dread rain which in our climate meant we panicked quite a lot! We did the best we could turning our three bed duplex into our little corner of the world, spending most of our savings on floors, painting it and other items that mostly lie in storage now. We got married in 2009 and started our family, living there with our son for his first year until we were evacuated by court order in October 2011.

The only people who have paid in any way are the residents

Since the day we were evacuated from Priory Hall the only people who have paid in any way are the residents. Granted we are blessed: we didn’t pay the ultimate price with our lives while we lived there. Hearing how a fire could have spread through the development in minutes means we never would have gotten out as we lived on the third and fourth floors. It’s horrible to think that while you’re doing the best you can keeping your child safe you are actually putting him in huge danger because of the home you purchased in good faith.

We pay with our health, constantly stressed and worried, all the while trying to put a brave face on. We pay with our futures – as while this drags on we don’t have one, simple as that. We are stuck in limbo where normal life goes on around us, caught between Dublin City Council who are doing all they can to shirk their responsibilities and a government who are too reluctant to get involved due to the many other possible Priory Halls around the country.

I understand they are afraid to get involved as it sets a precedent but what the government fail to see is that there are very real people caught up in this who deserve to have their lives back. My son was one when he left, he still remembers living there, when we walk by, he points at the railings and says “we can’t live there”. I’m tired of listening to the government blame the previous administration for the light touch regulations which led to the disaster that is Priory Hall. The blame game is long over and it’s time for real solutions to be discussed, something to finally put an end to our nightmare.

How has nobody been hold accountable for this?

DCC went to the Supreme Court today to appeal the court order to pay the residents temporary accommodation and storage fees. Had they carried out the proper inspections nobody would ever have been allowed to move into Priory Hall so we wouldn’t all be in this mess now. It beggars belief that only a few months after the building site was closed down for Health and Safety breaches, DCC then purchased units in the development for social housing. How has not one person been held accountable for that decision? When the problems in the development came to light, DCC moved their own tenants out in December 2009 and left the other owner/occupiers there unaware of the seriousness of the issues for almost two years. Again, how has nobody been hold accountable for this?

The appeal has been adjourned until October 15th to allow the mediation process to continue. Whilst it is a small comfort that the court didn’t rule against the residents today, it means another five months in limbo. In October it will be two years since we were ordered out of our homes, as one of the legal counsel put it in court “almost an eviction as opposed to an evacuation”. We were supposed to leave for five weeks while repair works were carried out. The building has stood there rotting ever since and is now in a worse state than ever.

I’m tired of trying to stay positive and believing that things have to eventually turn in our favour. It’s the little things that sometimes upset me the most. I’ve put my son’s name down for a local school in the hope that the one we’ve chosen is the one we will live near when he goes in two years. Something that should be exciting is another stressful thing, as while this drags on we have no idea where we will be from month to month. We had our home in Priory Hall gorgeously decorated with pictures of family, friends and our lives together. We have not put one picture on a wall in our temporary accommodation, after the devastation of packing your whole life up in 48 hours I can’t allow myself to put any roots down here as we have no idea when we will have to leave.

The bank is still adding interest to our mortgage

It’s not a life, it’s an existence. I know there are people going through so much worse in their lives but it’s still really unfair that all the residents of Priory Hall did was purchase homes in good faith and yet we continue to be the only ones paying for this mess. Our mortgage is on moratorium with our bank but interest is still being added, over €20,000 in 18 months. Very soon it will be impossible to ever repay this debt. Priory Hall represents everything that was wrong with the boom, homes thrown up by greedy and corrupt builders who were allowed get away with it by local authorities who never bothered carrying out inspections, even on sites where there were known to be problems.

Priory Hall. Two little words that will continue to rule and ruin our lives until a proper solution is put in place for the residents.

This article was reproduced with the permission of Support The Priory Hall Residents

Priory Hall: “They’ve already tried to put us on the streets once, they can’t try it again”

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    May 11th 2013, 1:38 PM

    My heart goes out to this poor lady, and to all those others who are guilty of the heinous crime of wanting a home, and providing it for themselves. They have been grievously let down by successI’ve governments and by a local authority who, it appears, only know how to squander money on nonsense – not how do deal with crises in practical terms. Disgraceful.

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    Mute Loud and Angry!
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    May 11th 2013, 1:50 PM

    “Buyer beware” anybody?

    How is it DCCs fault?

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    Mute Norman Hunter
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    May 11th 2013, 1:52 PM

    I assume Dublin has planning regs and up to the council to enforce them,might be the reason why the council has some responsibility in this fiasco.

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    Mute Loud and Angry!
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    May 11th 2013, 1:59 PM

    And the buyers are blameless? I think there’s shared culpability.

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    Mute gerard
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    May 11th 2013, 2:01 PM

    The people who inspected and signed off on all those badly built properties should be all.sacked as they had the final say

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    Mute Norman Hunter
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    May 11th 2013, 2:02 PM

    To the best of my knowledge the development was sold off the plans so what blame are you accusing the buyers of?

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    Mute sean o reilly
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    May 11th 2013, 2:43 PM

    Bell end

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    Mute sean o reilly
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    May 11th 2013, 2:44 PM

    @loud and angry is a bell end

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    Mute Graham Kavanagh
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    May 11th 2013, 2:50 PM

    French revolution thought us nothing. We still let the rich rule and control us. This whole situation was about simply getting richer, at the expense of the regular joe. I am sure if you dug deeper into this, you would find deeper pockets, surprising names behind it.

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    Mute MrMagoo
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    May 11th 2013, 3:20 PM

    @Loud & Stupid – you are a real pain in the ass trolling here on sensitive issues like this. Crawl back under the rock you came out from.

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    Mute Eamonn Bolger
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    May 11th 2013, 3:33 PM

    Loud and angry: they are the overseers and grantors of permission. The onus lays squarely on their shoulders. Not the residents.

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    Mute MrMagoo
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    May 11th 2013, 3:37 PM

    PLEASE residents of Priory Hall STOP paying your mortgage if you are paying any of it. Save the money instead. Put the keys in an envelope addressed to your Bank.
    The property you bought is and always be worthless as you will never be able to sell it no matter how low the price.
    Therefore for the rest of your life you will be trying to pay off a worthless loan with the distress and worry which I can only imagine is unbearable.
    If they try and come after you let them. Don’t worry about judgements being registered against you as you will never get another mortgage again anyway as you won’t be able to sell Priory Hall.
    My Sister was consumed with debt and negative equity and worry. She put the house keys in an envelope to the bank and started a new life in England with her husband and 3 kids.
    She now has her life back and loves her new life.
    If worst comes to worst do what Ben Dunne suggested on Joe Duffy and the Late Late show and move up North for 18 months, declare bankruptcy and come home not owing ONE CENT to anyone. A bit of pain for a huge amount of gain.

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    May 13th 2013, 3:51 PM

    Loud and angry is a troll. He is on another thread posing as a local authority tenant complaining at the size of his dwelling! I think you’ll find he will pop up all over the place to put the ‘contrary’ view.

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    Mute Johnny Magory
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    May 11th 2013, 1:40 PM

    Priory Hall is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more complexes like this. Boom time building, greed and no inspections caused this
    The banks had a responsibility when sending a surveyor before approving mortgages, they were part of the problem too.

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    Mute Loud and Angry!
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    May 11th 2013, 1:42 PM

    Sending a surveyor to ensure the location is suitable. How does that induce culpability on the banks behalf with regard to poor construction?

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    Mute Ian Walsh
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    May 11th 2013, 1:54 PM

    Troll alert

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    Mute Loud and Angry!
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    May 11th 2013, 2:01 PM

    If that’s your opinion. Luckily your opinion is as unimportant to me as regulations were to Mr McFeeley.

    Silly people for buying something without checking it was sound.

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    Mute Brian O'Grady
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    May 11th 2013, 2:42 PM

    That’s why a surveyor is sent by the bank, to check that it is all sound. In my opinion DCC and the surveyor sent by the mortgage company should be shouldering the blame.

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    Mute David Murphy
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    May 11th 2013, 3:00 PM

    I hate all the comments about how people who bought there made the mistake and how they should have spent money on surveyors and engineers etc. they shouldn’t have to! Building rules and regulations are a mystery to most people which is why the government are supposed to look after this on behalf of the people. It’s a joke. You should be able to buy a home knowing that the relevant codes and laws have been met by the builder having been checked and passed by the civil authorities. I honestly thought the was the case and cannot believe it is not. Is there no professional indemnity or similar insurances that cover developments or professionals in development?

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    Mute Karen Gillen
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    May 11th 2013, 2:22 PM

    The finance provided to the developer to build this would have been done in tranches, with architects certifications required each time a new tranche is drawn down. Upon sale to private purchasers, a surveyors report on the condition of the property is standard, for a new build the completion involves opportunity for a snag list which again involves a professional. The crux of the problem here is professional fraud, willfully done to benefit the developers, get it finished and get paid.

    Everyone who signed off a report on build certifications, fire safety approval etc should have their professional accreditation suspended and be subjected to investigation and sued where they were found negligent.

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    Mute Sean Evony
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    May 11th 2013, 6:08 PM

    exaclty

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    Mute Diarmuid Danger Lenihan
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    May 11th 2013, 1:47 PM

    There’s no way I’d be paying back a mortgage on this place. I don’t care what the bank said i’d just fire the keys at them and rent for a few years.

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    Mute Loud and Angry!
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    May 11th 2013, 1:49 PM

    How is the banks fault they made a bad choice?

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    Mute Ian Walsh
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    May 11th 2013, 1:54 PM

    Troll alert!!!!!!

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    Mute Johnny Magory
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    May 11th 2013, 1:56 PM

    Stop trolling you clown

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    Mute ha?
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    May 11th 2013, 1:56 PM

    well loud and angry! still trolling I see, as you appear to have a lot of time on your hands, come to my bog, I’ve a bit of footing for you to do. good lad! I’ll see you in an hour so, bring a bottle of tae and a few ham sandwiches with ya. it’ll be a long day! :)

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    Mute Niall Mullins
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    May 11th 2013, 2:38 PM

    With you 100% Diarmuid. And left a very similar comment on the other article on here yesterday.

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    Mute Diarmuid Danger Lenihan
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    May 11th 2013, 3:06 PM

    Loud and angry! I think you are a meany.

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    Mute Barry Ringwood
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    May 11th 2013, 1:40 PM

    Why dont the powers that be use the money being wasted on legal fees on builders fees instead?
    Fix the place – let all residents return and then make the contractors and the contractors insurance people foot the bill.

    Arent civil servants supposed to serve civilians? (& Not make them suffer?)

    Sometimes it simply hurts to be Irish!

    Best of luck in your battles

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    Mute Master Mc Man
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    May 11th 2013, 2:07 PM

    Home bond ?
    Insurance ?
    Builders insurance ?
    The architect who signed off?

    Someone passed this building as safe and that’s precisely their job for i assume they got paid for and someone has an invoice and summary of the work they carried out.

    If they did their job and noticed these particular regs where not in place the builder at that stage would have to rectify the work

    So i blame the people who passed it

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    Mute GOLDEN ARMS
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    May 11th 2013, 2:01 PM

    Heart goes out to the author there, and all the former residents, i cycle by this place quite often and serves me a reminder of how corrupt this country has become, absolute disgrace, some people should be rotting in jail 4 this

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    Mute gerard
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    May 11th 2013, 1:54 PM

    You be ashamed to call yourself irish the way we treat our people as its a total disgrace that this situation should have being sorted out when the problems happened and people should be in jail over this if you did,nt pay your tv licence you get jail

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    Mute Mary Gleeson
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    May 11th 2013, 2:10 PM

    We’ve experienced DCC about breach of building regs and defective build. Their answer? There is no legislative requirement on DCC to inspect works for which they granted permission. No accountability. Again.

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    Mute Master Mc Man
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    May 11th 2013, 2:12 PM

    I wouldn’t of thought they were responsible unless it was council apartments ..

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    Mute Master Mc Man
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    May 11th 2013, 2:51 PM

    Maybe I’m missing some piece of info but if I’m building a house which the council gives planning permission and the builder fcuks up somehow I’d b chasing him – wouldn’t occur to me that council were responsible for his work

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    Mute Denise Friary
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    May 11th 2013, 2:28 PM

    I bet that there is no residents at Priory hall that are TDs or them free loading senators,In my opinion the residents are worse off than refugees at least the Goverment has a care of duty by law to refugees.

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    Mute gerard
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    May 11th 2013, 2:35 PM

    You are totally right the goverment don,t give a damm about its own people

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    Mute Red Ed
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    May 11th 2013, 2:00 PM

    They need alot more media attention on this. I know that the government want to avoid the issue at all costs as it probably is just the tip if the iceberg. If I was in this mess and had no young family, I would go on hunger strike inside priory hall until the bad media attention works on these criminals

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    Mute gerard
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    May 11th 2013, 2:10 PM

    Totally agree with you Ed we are all getting too soft as we were once known as the fighting irish

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    Mute Derek Lyster
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    May 11th 2013, 4:59 PM

    When priory hall was being built it would have had to adhere to all current building regs and whatever planning conditions set down by dcc.
    An engineer or architect would have had to supervise the construction and sign off on it aswell issuing a cert of compliance stating that all was ok.
    Clearly everything was not ok so whoever signed off on the works is the one to follow to put things right aswell as paying the mortgages for all those evacuated for the duration they are in temporary housing.on top of that they should be struck off as engineers/architects and charged with fraud.if there had been a fire there this could have been so much worse.

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    May 13th 2013, 3:58 PM

    Derek, sorry, but I have one phrase to give to you. “Self Certification”. Yup, as unbelievable as it may sound, THAT was the system being operated by Dublin City Council, and the builders constructing in their areas.

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    Mute mcgoo
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    May 11th 2013, 3:15 PM

    The sad thing is that there are thousands of priory halls lying undiscovered in this country and will remain undiscovered until we have a tragedy or tragedies

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    Mute anthony byrne
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    May 11th 2013, 3:29 PM

    Dublin council should be ashamed of its-self.

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    Mute Master Mc Man
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    May 11th 2013, 4:40 PM

    Ok ur a troll

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    Mute Mary Gleeson
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    May 12th 2013, 6:53 PM

    Of course builder and architect who signed off are responsible. But they wound up those companies. No one to chase. Luckily Homebond could help somewhat. No safety file, no as built plans exist. Architect told me my solicitor was at fault by not asking for them when closing. But DCC gave fire cert for insurance, granted the permission etc etc etc. Yet they didn’t have to inspect the works. And the building is in breach of granted permission too. So all the professionals we paid money to, to advise us and act in our interest on matters they are experts in, didn’t do that. And here we are.

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    Mute P Ryan
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    May 12th 2013, 12:47 AM

    Burn it to the ground a put the builder in the middle of it and the person that sign it off

    5
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