*Photograph: Joe Buckley
LIVES WILL BE LOST due to the defective concrete problem on the island of Ireland, activists have claimed.
Solidarity was on display on Saturday with affected pyrite homeowners from counties such as Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Limerick joining with the Clare Pyrite Action Group holding their first public protest.
Mayo mother of three, Jamie-Lee Donnelly was among them, a member of the pyrite/mica working group is trying to negotiate a fair redress scheme with the Department of Housing. “I can tell you first hand that they are not willing to fix the problem the way it needs to be fixed,” she said of the Department’s attitude.
“They are telling the people of Clare they are undeserving to have their homes fixed,” the Ballina woman stated. “The current scheme is not fit for purpose and the new scheme is worse. This is a defective concrete problem on the island of Ireland, lives have been lost already and will continue to be lost, the lives of Irish citizens are at stake”.
Linda O’Callaghan, an affected homeowner said, “every single person living in Clare should be livid with anger, this Government is discriminating against the people of Clare”. A committee member of the Clare Pyrite Action Group, Linda said the discrimination was “purely on the grounds of geography. The Government aren’t slighting me, they are slighting Co Clare”.
