This country is really turning into the dump Eamonn Dunphy described it to be. I believe people are still paying mortgages on these properties. I can tell you one thing for an absolute fact……… if the developer, the architect, the engineers, the council, the government or the insurance companies can shirk out of responsibilities then I certainly wouldn’t be paying my mortgage. What an absolutely disgraceful way to treat the people of this land.

I’d love to know why Hogan thinks it would be inappropriate to meet the residents? Surely that would be the MOST appropriate thing to do. The government took stamp duty off these people and now absolve themselves of any responsibility?

These people need the support of the country as this should be seen as a moral test case as to how ordinary people are treated by greedy, incompetent, gamblers and decision makers. Enough is enough.

@John, why should we have to pay for something twice? if DCC had been doing their job, in the first place, this would never have happened? Your “couple” of thousand is actually 39,000 per apartment as a starting figure.
It is in everyone’s interest to find a solution, particularly, the residents. I have two small children and myself and my neighbours have been living out of suitcases for the past four months. In my opinion, the only people searching for a solution is ourselves. Have you seen Priory hall first hand? If not, pay a visit, you can say when you read the history books that you where there at one of the most dangerous “modern” builds in our lifetime. Don’t tell me, if your house fell down, you wouldn’t pursue the builder!

“Dublin City Council as the Building Control Authority carried out no
building control inspections prior to the development being occupied.
Despite clear warning signs that there were problems with the
development, such as the Health and Safety Authority action in the High
Court in 2006, where Priory Hall was described as “one of the most
unsafe sites” the inspector had ever visited the Council chose not to
carry out their own inspections.

Dublin City Council as the Fire Safety Authority carried out no fire
safety inspections prior to the development being occupied. In addition
despite being aware of the problems in 2009, when they moved their own
tenants out, 256 residents including 87 children were left living in
severe risk to their lives for almost 2 years in a development so
dangerous that Chief Fire Officer Donal Casey told the president of the
High Court a fire could spread throughout an entire block within
minutes.”
Also John, I am a tax payer too!!

Fucking Disgrace!!!

These people have done nothing wrong and deserve assistance…
They bought in good faith and have been shafted by the builder and now by Dublin corporation and the government.
Quiet simply Phil Hogan you are a disgrace..

Should NAMA not let them all live in one of the hotels (or some place similar) it currently has in it’s possession? Save the council money and keep their community together so they can fight injustice.

Dave, isn’t that the whole injustice of it. All of those mentioned above can avoid responsibiity without recourse while the victim gets even deeper in it by defending himself in the only way he can.

@John – the external walls of the building need to be removed and rebuilt at a minimum, not to mention the internal work that needs doing. Your suggestion that owners carry out this work on a 4/5 storey building at weekends and evenings is laughable.

Hold some1 accountable, give the working people (who sweated n toiled 2 provide a home n who are now homeless tru no fault of there own) a proper home like the 1s they thought they’d bought when they acquired these death traps, then never turn the electricity on n bulldoze the place cos that’s al it’s fit 4…..

@John So what your really saying is that if you bought a new car from a dealer that went on to develop severe engine failure you’d be ok with the dealer suggesting you come up with a solution and dip into your wallet to fund all the repair work?. The simple facts are that despite checks by surveyors etc the problems with Priory hall were hidden and only revealed themselves over time. The legislation that governed at the time allowed and architect to certify the building from their desk without ever having to verify in the field.
One solution for the residents, resides in making available the empty NAMA properties in the area and enabling legislation or what ever it takes to transfer the mortgage from their property in Priory Hall to the new home. The banks have been handed billions of tax payers money so they should not be allowed oppose this.
As citizens of this country the residents are entitled to request and obtain the support of their Government. God knows various Ministers have been quick enough to meet with corrupt bankers over the previous years!

the priory hall case is very unfortunate and unfair on the residents. the eventual outcome and how the powers that be handle this is very important though as I fear priory hall is only the tip of the iceberg and many more boom era developments with similar structural negligence will begin to surface

McFeely ( The so called developer of Priory Hall ) was in Fingleton’s Golden Circle, no wonder he is being allowed to walk away. One rule for the developer/ banker/ politically connected elite and another rule for the decent honest hardworking people of Ireland. He owes tens of millions to the banks yet he was allowed go to the UK ( when he should have been in prison serving a prison sentence, but because DCC didn’t turn up to his appeal he was freed by the Chief Justice which meant he could hop on a plane to the UK using his UK passport even though his Irish one was held by the High Court and declare himself bankrupt). Neither NAMA, nor the banks he owes money to nor the Government are seeking to overturn his bankruptcy. He is the one who should be paying to rebuild Priory Hall. It appears McFeely is too well connected, so nobody in authority is prepared to make him accountable???? Mcfeely will be debt free in January 2013, less than a year from now and the residents of Prioryhall face financial meltdown. What kind of a country have we become ?

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/fingleton-loans-the-golden-circle-3010317.html

There is a solution for you John, overturn his UK bankruptcy, use his assets ( and the assets he has hidden ) to fund a complete re-build of Priory hall.

Surely common sense dictates compensation for these houses should take priority over bailouts for the banks. Bank losses are ultimately losses of bondholders surplus and not their homes.

Sounds like a classic case of ‘greedy developers out to make a fast buck!’ Surely, so-called building regulations in this country should/must state that any new buildings meet certain fire restrictions when being built? Plus as many as 18 other non-fire issues I believe? The builders should be thrown in jail and stripped of their own assets to try and recoup some of the money, not Priory Hall residents having to be housed in temporary accomodation.
Surely, they can be prosecuted on something? At least gross negligence, or failing to meet standard building requirements? How many more apartment blocks were literally thrown up in the ‘ Celtic Tiger’ era?

@john,i bought in prioryhall it is not my fault or any of the homeowners the building wasnt built properly,how can you say we should save the money and fix it up ourselves,we want justice not handouts,iv worked all my life and was ripped off by the state,builder etc,iv paid for a home that i cannot live in by no fault of my own,maybe if you go to prioryhall and look at how disgraceful it is,everyone has an opinion but saying we should fix up the building ourselves is laughable,why should we, that scumbag mcfeely should be locked up and the other idiots who certified the building.We just want a solution and so we can move on from this mess.

Shocking what has happened to them but if the country cannot afford to continue the payments, well…we can’t afford to make the payments!! Perhaps other avenues should be investigated such as home insurance cover and a closer look at the development company’s assets. Perhaps priory hall could be renovated? The gov need to start to crack down more on developers and stop them from hiding behind legal barriers, im sure revenue could be raised somehow from the developer. But I’m afraid that perhaps in this instance, unfortunately the priory hall residents could just be bang out of luck. I agree that if the council can’t afford to keep them well theres not much more that can be done. Life is tough sometimes

Sooner or later the residents will have to get together and raise money for the fire stopping work. It should only cost a couple of thousand per apartment, so surely it is in the interests of their mortgage lenders to provide the finance if they haven’t got it; it won’t impact significantly on their mortgages. The local authority needs to get proactive and look for a solution along these lines; maybe there is some kind of grant that they can give to cover some of the cost. The only solution that the council has come up with to date is to do nothing; that has to change, but the owners also need to start solving the problem themselves. If my house falls down, it’s essentially my problem in the first instance.
Hogan is right btw, it’s not his role to get involved and he shouldn’t drag the taxpayer into it.