“Neighbours from hell” are “wreaking havoc” in Clare County Council owned houses, a local elected representative has declared.
Speaking at the September meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) repeated his concerns at the ongoing conditions caused in some estates across the county by tenants of the local authority. “Serious drug issues in urban areas”, instances of racism and poor waste management leading to the presence of rats were among the bones of contention flagged.
He sought a progress report on the work of the three tenancy enforcement officers (TEO) appointed in a temporary capacity by Clare County Council at the start of this year. Flynn noted that the officers were operating on a 24/7 basis “to support residents experiencing anti-social behaviour from neighbours in Clare County Council housing tenancies”.
Director of Service, Anne Haugh explained that the primary role of the TEO team is to “investigate fully” any complaints to alleged failure of tenants to abide by their letting agreement, work closely with the Traveller community, serve notices on illegally parked caravans and to provide support to communities in relation to anti-social behaviour of Council tenants. So far in 2021, the TEO team has undertaken 1,731 callouts.
She acknowledged that complaints relating to anti-social behaviour increased during stay-at-home restrictions. The Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy adopted earlier in 2021 was referenced as an example of its commitment “to the preservation of the peaceful occupation of all dwellings for which it is responsible and will not tolerate anti-social behaviour”.
By the end of 2023, up to 322 new houses will be provided directly by Clare Count Council. These units will have an average cost of €220,000, Cllr Flynn outlined. He felt the abolition of Ennis Town Council as a housing authority coincided with a “huge influx in these neighbours from hell from rural parts of the county and from outside the county, they have created havoc in their own areas and then create havoc in the areas they move into”.
“I am very concerned with a very small but a very troublesome number of tenants in local authority funded houses which are creating havoc not alone for vulnerable people trying to leave peacefully in houses adjoining them but also for vulnerable children who I believe are at risk,” the Ennis representative flagged.
Individuals who worked on the frontline in the height of the pandemic have had to sell their house and emigrate “due to intimidation,” the former Mayor of Ennis remarked. He said the actions of the “neighbours from hell” are “keeping people up at night, it is keeping people up who are trying to get up and go to work the next morning to keep the country moving”.
His proposal was seconded by Cllr Paul Murphy (FG). “The anti-social behaviour is a major problem, it is a minority but they are causing rack”. He recalled a recent incident in Clarecastle where he claimed that a man living in a Council estate was “fully drugged” and “jumped into a car and demanded to be brought to Ennis” while he later “stole hundreds off the elderly people,” Murphy alleged.
Chair of the Social Development SPC, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) admitted he was “not too fond of the neighbours from hell title”. He stated, “The Council are about building communities. It is important that communities feel safe when there are problematic issues”.
