Larrys news story(forgot to post it on squirrelmail)
Flooding the latest problem for troubled Limerick estate
On Wednesday 2cnd October residents of Crecora Ave. in Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick City awoke to find up to two feet of flooding outside their homes. The street outside was completely submerged and water was beginning to flood many of the gardens.
There is some confusion as to the cause of the flooding. Local housing officer Katherine Kirby believes gutters on the street are filling too quickly due to the drainage pipes not being able to process the water as it falls. Many residents seem to think Limerick Corporation installed the wrong type of drainage system when the estate was being built.
Ballinacurra Weston, built in the Thirties, is a large council estate on the Southside of the city. It is one of the countries designated unemployment black-spots. Poverty, crime and drug abuse are major problems here. According to a recent study by PAUL Partnership Limerick, the cities combat poverty agency, called Moving Forward Together one in three households live in income poverty, their income is less than half the national average. Up to 70 percent of residents have not completed their Leaving Cert and, astonishingly, 13.8% of houses still have no bathroom. This area does not need additional problems to deal with.
Mrs. Kirby remains calm when asked about the issue; “This flooding has been here every time it rains heavily for well over twenty years”. Despite the matter of fact way in which she deals with the problem, the flooding is causing more damage now than it has done in the past.
In the area directly affected by the flood are several abandoned houses, one such house was petrol bombed as part of the ongoing feud in the city. What were once the front gardens of these houses are now dumping sites. Everything from household waste to old washing machines and television sets decorate the gardens.
As well as being magnets for anti-social behaviour these abandoned houses are drawing rodents in their droves. It is inevitable that the rats eventually work their way into the occupied homes in the area.
It is the Corporation’s responsibility to repair the damaged houses and also to clear the rubbish piles in the garden. They refuse to do so on the basis that none of the tenants on their housing list will accept accommodation in an area so run down. Their solution is to knock the dilapidated properties.
Once a property is knocked the Corporations New Lettings Crew are responsible for rebuilding it. The Crew are currently so understaffed that the space would lay idle for two years before a new house would be built. For local residents the options seem to be to live next to a landfill or a wasteland.
Therese Moran, a 74 year old widow, has lived in the area for over forty years. She believes living conditions are worse now than at any time in the past; “The rats are all
over my garden anytime you go out there and I’ve seen, not many, but a few in the house. The children are out there playing and its filthy, it’s only a matter of time before something terrible happens one of them”.
Mrs. Moran goes on to point the finger of blame squarely at Limerick Corporation’s inactivity; “I’m tired of complaining at this stage. It’s been seven years (since her first complaint on the matter) and you get absolutely no response from the Corporation”. In the PAUL study it came to light that 94% of residents in the areas corporation owned homes are unhappy with the service provided by Limerick Corporation.
Housing officer Kirby’s official role would be to act as a vehicle for delivering residents concerns to the Corporation; unfortunately some locals aren’t even aware of her existence. Mrs. Kirby acknowledged that “The Corporation are much quicker to answer queries if they come through official channels such as me or another community representative. Some residents have complained so many times independently, to no avail, that they lose all hope of anything ever being done”.
Catherine Liddy is Welfare Rights officer for the area and manager of the local community centre. She believes the corporation are essentially fighting a losing battle in trying to restore the neighbourhood; “The corporation will come out and fix something or clean up an area but there budget is severely restricted and they’re very wary of fixing something which may be destroyed again immediately afterwards”.
On the issue that the government have just committed 9.5 million euros per day for the next ten years to the implementation of Transport 21 but haven’t the money for essential repairs in Weston, local councillor Joe Carroll was unavailable for comment.
This lack of comment at government level was mirrored within the ranks of the Corporation. The community liaison officer for Weston, Pat Daly, and the Corporation’s Environmental officer were also unavailable for comment. The resident’s of the area’s eagerness to talk was in stark contrast to their representatives.
In some residents eyes the Corporation were not the only ones to blame for failing to properly address problems in the area. The media were blamed by many for perpetuating the negative image the community has to live with. Many felt it was time the media stopped focusing solely on the crime within the area and began informing the wider public of the harsh reality of life people must endure.
A quick Google search of the term “flooding in Ballinacurra Weston” shows the validity of this assertion. The search will yield 54 results, 21 of which will be about murder, assault or arson attacks which have taken place within the area. None of them are about the flooding on Crecora Ave.
Weston, like disadvantaged communities throughout the country, is on the margins of society. Its needs are ignored by not just the Corporation or the media but by society at large. Local Parish priest, Fr. Pat Severs, eloquently stated these sentiments earlier this week; “If you look around you will see this place is in a bad state, the Corporation don’t care, the place is falling down. Even the Guards can’t really be bothered; they don’t really come in here anymore, their absence is quite noticeable. There’s no hope, no future here for the kids”.
On Wednesday 2cnd October residents of Crecora Ave. in Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick City awoke to find up to two feet of flooding outside their homes. The street outside was completely submerged and water was beginning to flood many of the gardens.
There is some confusion as to the cause of the flooding. Local housing officer Katherine Kirby believes gutters on the street are filling too quickly due to the drainage pipes not being able to process the water as it falls. Many residents seem to think Limerick Corporation installed the wrong type of drainage system when the estate was being built.
Ballinacurra Weston, built in the Thirties, is a large council estate on the Southside of the city. It is one of the countries designated unemployment black-spots. Poverty, crime and drug abuse are major problems here. According to a recent study by PAUL Partnership Limerick, the cities combat poverty agency, called Moving Forward Together one in three households live in income poverty, their income is less than half the national average. Up to 70 percent of residents have not completed their Leaving Cert and, astonishingly, 13.8% of houses still have no bathroom. This area does not need additional problems to deal with.
Mrs. Kirby remains calm when asked about the issue; “This flooding has been here every time it rains heavily for well over twenty years”. Despite the matter of fact way in which she deals with the problem, the flooding is causing more damage now than it has done in the past.
In the area directly affected by the flood are several abandoned houses, one such house was petrol bombed as part of the ongoing feud in the city. What were once the front gardens of these houses are now dumping sites. Everything from household waste to old washing machines and television sets decorate the gardens.
As well as being magnets for anti-social behaviour these abandoned houses are drawing rodents in their droves. It is inevitable that the rats eventually work their way into the occupied homes in the area.
It is the Corporation’s responsibility to repair the damaged houses and also to clear the rubbish piles in the garden. They refuse to do so on the basis that none of the tenants on their housing list will accept accommodation in an area so run down. Their solution is to knock the dilapidated properties.
Once a property is knocked the Corporations New Lettings Crew are responsible for rebuilding it. The Crew are currently so understaffed that the space would lay idle for two years before a new house would be built. For local residents the options seem to be to live next to a landfill or a wasteland.
Therese Moran, a 74 year old widow, has lived in the area for over forty years. She believes living conditions are worse now than at any time in the past; “The rats are all
over my garden anytime you go out there and I’ve seen, not many, but a few in the house. The children are out there playing and its filthy, it’s only a matter of time before something terrible happens one of them”.
Mrs. Moran goes on to point the finger of blame squarely at Limerick Corporation’s inactivity; “I’m tired of complaining at this stage. It’s been seven years (since her first complaint on the matter) and you get absolutely no response from the Corporation”. In the PAUL study it came to light that 94% of residents in the areas corporation owned homes are unhappy with the service provided by Limerick Corporation.
Housing officer Kirby’s official role would be to act as a vehicle for delivering residents concerns to the Corporation; unfortunately some locals aren’t even aware of her existence. Mrs. Kirby acknowledged that “The Corporation are much quicker to answer queries if they come through official channels such as me or another community representative. Some residents have complained so many times independently, to no avail, that they lose all hope of anything ever being done”.
Catherine Liddy is Welfare Rights officer for the area and manager of the local community centre. She believes the corporation are essentially fighting a losing battle in trying to restore the neighbourhood; “The corporation will come out and fix something or clean up an area but there budget is severely restricted and they’re very wary of fixing something which may be destroyed again immediately afterwards”.
On the issue that the government have just committed 9.5 million euros per day for the next ten years to the implementation of Transport 21 but haven’t the money for essential repairs in Weston, local councillor Joe Carroll was unavailable for comment.
This lack of comment at government level was mirrored within the ranks of the Corporation. The community liaison officer for Weston, Pat Daly, and the Corporation’s Environmental officer were also unavailable for comment. The resident’s of the area’s eagerness to talk was in stark contrast to their representatives.
In some residents eyes the Corporation were not the only ones to blame for failing to properly address problems in the area. The media were blamed by many for perpetuating the negative image the community has to live with. Many felt it was time the media stopped focusing solely on the crime within the area and began informing the wider public of the harsh reality of life people must endure.
A quick Google search of the term “flooding in Ballinacurra Weston” shows the validity of this assertion. The search will yield 54 results, 21 of which will be about murder, assault or arson attacks which have taken place within the area. None of them are about the flooding on Crecora Ave.
Weston, like disadvantaged communities throughout the country, is on the margins of society. Its needs are ignored by not just the Corporation or the media but by society at large. Local Parish priest, Fr. Pat Severs, eloquently stated these sentiments earlier this week; “If you look around you will see this place is in a bad state, the Corporation don’t care, the place is falling down. Even the Guards can’t really be bothered; they don’t really come in here anymore, their absence is quite noticeable. There’s no hope, no future here for the kids”.
posted by wesley maj at 11:58 AM
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