Pyrite homeowners 'let down by council'

Residents in a housing estate in Westport that has pyrite have been let down by Mayo County Council, according to a local councillor. 

Cllr Brendan Mulroy was speaking at a meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District in relation to Pairc na Coille, an estate that had been council-owned but the houses were later purchased by local residents.

“Residents are in a situation where Mayo County Council still has claw-back on some of these houses, so a person has to re-build their house because of pyrite but the council will have a claw-back if they go to sell their houses. 

"The residents down there are great people, I don’t know how they have kept it together. Mayo Co Council has let them down and should have stepped in a lot earlier. 

"There is a big question as to when the pyrite became clear down there and who knew what. I know the residents have employed a solicitor to deal with this and it is very hard to give Mayo County Council anything but a blasting on this one. Those houses were supposed to be passed down from generation to generation and that’s where Mayo County Council need to step in.” 

Cllr Mulroy said he would not say anything further because "I don’t want to end up in the High Court".

Cllr John O’Malley said "it was an awful situation mentally and financially for the people involved and the council could still do more for them". He shared the case of one resident who simply could not afford to knock and re-build their house, adding that he was also aware of a high quality kitchen being offered for sale from a house in Belmullet that has pyrite.

“It was a beautiful house belonging to a young couple that was selling everything they had because they had to knock the house. It is an awful, terrible sad situation to be in and they’re getting no help. It’s enough to build one house besides having to knock it and build another. It’s mind-boggling really and every help and more should be given to them by the council.”

Cllr Gerry Coyle said the whole thing was a scandal and the people involved wouldn’t be able to get another mortgage either, while Cllr Sean Carey said people in North Mayo were also awaiting information on pyrite repairs, telling management: “Regarding the local authority houses plagued with pyrite, can we have an update on work to repair them and getting them back into the system in the whole Erris area.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.