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A CENTRAL DUBLIN apartment complex is currently experiencing its eighth day, and second weekend, of water pressure reduced to a trickle.
Residents of the 144-apartment Bertram Court, near Christchurch in Dublin’s city centre, have had their water supply reduced to a trickle since last Friday, 21 August.
People have been reduced to showering at the gym or with “bottles of water”.
Residents say that the management company in charge of the upkeep of the complex have been avoiding phone calls and putting the issue on the long finger.
“There’s a trickle coming out so there is some water in the tank but we have no fresh water,” Bertram resident Ciaran Reinhardt told TheJournal.ie.
I was talking to another woman and she’s been using bottles of water to shower.
You’d be there 3 or 4 minutes waiting to fill a glass of drinking water.
Another guy said he hasn’t showered in three days and he had something to go to today and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to without a shower.
It’s not acceptable to leave people like this without running water.
Reinhardt says he has been assured by the building’s management company on at least two occasions this week that the problem would be fixed by last Monday, and then last Tuesday.
Following this Reinhardt says he was no longer able to raise the building manager on the phone.
“None of them answer me anymore,” he says.
I got in touch with local councillors and he was basically telling them that it’s already fixed and working fine.
They’re lying through their teeth to get out of doing this. There’s families with young babies here, I don’t even know how they’re coping.
Dublin City Council say they have no responsibility regarding the issue as the complex is a private one.
TheJournal.ie contacted the building’s manager, Martin Moloney, who admitted to us that there is no immediate end to the problem in sight.
“Look, there’s 144 apartments in that development, and only eight of them are experiencing trouble,” he said.
We’ve been working on it all week but we’ve only just ascertained that an underground water leak is to blame.
When asked about a problem with his approachability Moloney replied that he deemed such criticism “unfair”.
“Anyone who’s telephoned me I’ve informed them step by step what the problem is,” he said.
Currently residents of Bertram Court are charged €1,500 annually for the upkeep of the complex.
When asked whether or not he thought residents might file for compensation Moloney acknowledged that he would “understand” if they did so.
Meanwhile, Labour TD Eric Byrne told TheJournal.ie that it is “quite incredible” that the management company couldn’t guarantee the residents’ water supply.
“You’d have to level questions regarding the competency of the managers in question,” Byrne said.
I would certainly hope that the tenants and residents would take appropriate action with regard to their rights.
These people are paying substantial money towards their facility, and that water can’t be provided to them is just unbelievable.
Additional reporting Michelle Hennessy
Another new hotel in Dublin, fantastic, tourists can enjoy the city filled with tourists and other hotels, I hope they design comfortable doorways so maybe some Irish people can get a night’s rest too
@Fenster: Abbey Street is set to become a big area for hotels / tourists, there’s a further 3 hotels and one hostel with planning on Abbey street, 3 near Jervis and 1 near the Four Courts.
@Fenster: Yea the tax intake from more tourists visiting the city will add to the public coffers so when the next crash comes it wont hit as bad. Ita great to see one of our industries is growing and is not dependant on Irish people getting credit to finance it.
There’s more than a few ungainly sights around the Ha’penny Bridge.
Good to see a complaint from An Taisce be rejected for a change. If they were around in the 17 & 1800s they likely would have objected to the very buildings that they now claim to be part of our heritage! Blockers to progress.
@Dave Cunningham:
Google Wide Street Commission instead of wasting time posting here.
Good lad.
@Dave Cunningham: The Pinkos in an Taisce will appeal to Bord Pleanala and it will definitely be refused as usual.
@Michael Fehily:
Most likely because you are a gargantuan tool.
Great place for a cheap hotel. The options around D1 all run at €200+ for a Saturday night so this sounds great! Also, that corner of Abbey street is scaldy and really takes away from the impressive entrance to Arnotts a few doors up.
Used this hotel a few times in Germany. Good value hotel with a nice design and its comfortable with good service. I wonder will it be more expensive here? Ive used it in Munich and Berlin for about 80 eur a night. Few years back.
@Anne: Yes you can bet it will be a lot more expensive here
Maybe they could bring a major German street cleaning crew with them ….state of Dublin City centre at the moment is cringe worthy …. if I was a tourist coming here I’d think the Irish are filthy,not a good message to be sending them home with :-(
@Bob Beal: I totally agree Bob man. I was passing through early one morning last year walking down O Connell Street and the stink of urine, alcohol and cheap perfume was absolutely retched. I thought crikey what do tourists think.
Just look at the state of abbey street site how can you object?
Great news. Hurry up Noel.That area needs tidying up quickly.
This will be appealed to an bord planeala I’d say so won’t be built anytime soon
@madabot:
I hope so. It’s absolutely hideous. I definitely agree that something should be built there but not nine stories high and not with complete disregard for the buildings around it and the streets that it’s on.
@Anton Dec:
You are right there, nine stories is way too low! They should knock all the buildings and bring them up to line.
IMO Dublin could do with another 20 -30 hotels…. demand is definitely there..
It would be a great addition to what is currently a very run down area of Tge North Central Dublin district .
Unfortunately the pinkos in An Taisce and Bord Pleanala will refuse it because of height and bulk …
Imagine waking up after a night out in town going out after your breakfast on to Abbey St and O Connell st – zombie land with drug dealers on every corner.
@Cranky: Blah blah…. Waffle
@Michael Fehily: He is right and anybody who walks around the area on a regular basis could tell you ,
Old Dublin is slowly going, Moore Street has being ruined….
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