By Róise Collins

DURING her two-day visit to Donegal, presidential election candidate Catherine Connolly met and engaged with local communities across the county, but the real “eye-opener” she said was meeting with homeowners affected by defective concrete.

The independent TD for Galway West believed she understood the scale of the crisis from emotional speeches in the Dáil by her former colleague, Independent TD Thomas Pringle and current 100% Redress Party TD, Charles Ward.

However, it wasn’t until she visited homes and felt the crumbling concrete in her own hands that she fully grasped the true extent and “catastrophic proportions” of the problem.

“Charles Ward brought me out with councillors on the ground and showed me in reality what I only knew in theory,” she said.

“I’ve seen houses lying empty. I’ve seen the despair in people’s faces. It’s palpable.”

She described the people she met as victims of a situation they didn’t create.

“We have a defective concrete problem, we have a defective understanding and a defective system of compensation or redress.”

Over the course of Thursday and Friday, Deputy Connolly visited homes and estates across Inishowen and Letterkenny that are riddled with defective concrete.

She spoke with one homeowner who detailed the various illnesses suffered by those living in the house due to the deteriorating conditions.

They described life in the home as living through a “slow earthquake”. The phrase struck a chord with Deputy Connolly.

“I am glad I met, I am glad I sat and I am glad I saw.

“I am a TD at the moment and it is very important for me to listen, and as a president, it would be very important for me to listen too.”

“I think people feel they haven’t been listened to, and it is quite evident when you go round.”

Reflecting on the scenes she witnessed, she said:

“To see semi-detached houses, both having defective concrete issues – one demolished and one still there because it doesn’t come within the criteria – it’s truly unbelievable.”

“I really feel, as a politician, that the proper analysis has not been carried out on the extent of the problem.

“Not to mention accountability for the problem and then the actual remediation or new builds that are required.

“In the end, it’s going to cost a lot of money and perhaps if it was analysed properly from day one, it might have saved a little money,” she added.

The expression says it all.. Charles Ward T.D. apologising to Cllr Declan Meehan on his late arrival to Milford on Thursday evening with presidential candidate Catherine Connolly T.D. to meet a delegation in Milford. Photos Brian McDaid.

Those she met also raised the ongoing difficulties in securing alternative accommodation while awaiting the remediation of their homes as well as the mounting hidden costs of the crisis, such as renting and storage.

She described the defective concrete crisis as a microcosm of broader systemic failure.

“It is a microcosm of how we are failing to openly analyse problems and solutions, and then review them constantly to see if they’re fit for purpose,” she said.

The same applies to the country’s deepening housing crisis.

“It wasn’t recognised as a housing crisis in time and each government has failed to acknowledge that the crisis was because of government policy.

“Finally, we got a Housing Commission and that commission was excellent.

“It sent out a long list of recommendations, but the most important thing it said was that a radical reset of housing policy was needed.

“But that hasn’t happened.”

“We are pursuing a market driven ideology, but when the market fails – as it has – we simply bolster it with scheme after scheme.”

She pointed to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) as an example.

“HAP should have been a temporary measure, but it has become a permanent solution enshrined in legislation.

“That is a huge part of the problem, because it continues to bolster the private landlord system.”

Deputy Connolly acknowledged the role of landlords in the housing sector, “I have no problem with landlords,” she said.

“But we need the government through its local authorities to be building public housing and that hasn’t happened.”

During her visit to Donegal, Catherine Connolly met with local groups, listened to voices on the ground, visited the islands and Gaeltacht areas and spent time with the families of the Creeslough victims.

More coverage in Thursday’s Donegal News.