Elderly residents feel they are ‘fobbed off’
By Maurice Garvey
ELDERLY residents at a senior citizen complex in Ballyfermot claim they have been trying for years to get the council to fix the stairs, which they say, fails to drain rainwater efficiently.
“Twelve years we are talking about this,” said Thomas Gannon, PR for Claddagh Court Residents Committee.
Thomas Gannon, Michael White (Chair), Patrick Murphy (Treasurer), Kathleen Rowan and Maura Byrne
“Instead of water rolling off the stairs, it stays there and turns to rock hard ice. You need to hold both sides of the railings, but it is only a matter of time before someone falls down and dies.”
The residents’ committee say water also gets into the complex elevator and shuts it down.
“We have been looking for a canopy for the last three months for the lift,” said Mr Gannon.
“A man had to be carried up the stairs when the lift wasn’t working. After heavy rain, I have to walk through pools of water.”
Mr Gannon said the committee were led to believe funding was allocated for the stairs last summer.
Claddagh Court
“At a meeting, they said money was passed and it was supposed to be done this summer, then put back to autumn, then it will be next summer, and autumn. We get fobbed off, but this is going on for 12 years, it has gone way out of proportion.”
Earlier this year, Dublin City Council made a number of improvements to the complex, including securing the front gate, fixing the boiler and installing flower boxes outside the entrance to prevent illegal parking.
“We asked for poles to be put down because cars reverse back into the boxes, to move them out of the way,” said Mr Gannon.
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