Standing in her flat in Pearse House in Dublin’s south inner city, youth and community worker Eileen Nalty says, “Nobody wants to live like this.”
Nalty (57), who is a member of the complex’s residents’ association, cites problems with overcrowding, mould, antisocial behaviour, drains and vermin in the flats.
“We have rats in the flats every single night,” she says.
Dublin City Council recently received project and funding approval from the Department of Housing to proceed with the first phase of the regeneration of Pearse House, located between Hanover Street East and Pearse Street in Dublin 2.
The council’s plans are for a “major renewal works programme” for the 78 flats in Blocks L, M, N and P, where there are now six studios, 40 one-bedroom, 23 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom units.
Eileen Nalty and her granddaughter Zia (18 months) at Pearse House. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
The council has said its proposals for most of the flats are not to increase the size of the homes by reducing the number of bedrooms, but there are three flats where “this may have to happen to upgrade the flats to a healthy standard of living”.
Kitchen of flat occupied by Eileen Nalty in Pearse House. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
Pearse House, which is made up of 345 flats across 11 blocks, was built in the 1930s and designed by renowned city architect Herbert Simms. It is a protected structure.
Residents living there hold mixed views about the council’s approved application, with questions over timelines, what works will take place and whether their living space will increase.
Nalty, who has been living in her two-bedroom flat with her husband for 35 years, and previously also their two daughters, says she has experienced problems with the drainage system and boiler, which resulted in her floors being flooded. Her rent recently increased by €60 to €203 per week.
Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews: ‘This is a yellow-pack version of what residents believed would and should happen.’ Photograph: Bryan O’Brien 
Damp and mould under the kitchen sink of Eileen Nalty’s flat at Pearse House. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien
“My family comes up and we’re having a meal, sitting on sofas with the food on your lap. It’s horrendous. The space is unbelievable,” she says.
“Years ago we couldn’t afford a mortgage with the wages we were on, and now if we had bought 35 years ago, we would own it. I love the community and put a lot of time in it, but we are forgotten about.
“People think that those who live in the flats don’t work, they’re on the labour and are doing this and that. The majority of people in these flats do work.”
Joanne Lawless (41) lives in a two-bedroom flat with her husband and their five children, aged 14, 12, nine, four and one. Her husband Derek works as a maths teacher, having returned to college later in life.
“It’s like a dog box,” she says. “The improvement works the council are talking about is sort of a way of us getting out, because we need social housing. I don’t work, I look after the kids, so we won’t get a mortgage.”
Joanne lawless at her Pearse House flat. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
Pearse House Blocks L,M,N and P known as the ’Small Flats’. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
Lawless says aside from the cramped conditions, there are problems with mould.
“I wash it all the time, I’m sick of it,” she says. “I have a cough now, my son has a bit of a cough again. We only get rid of it but you’re breathing it in.”
Sinn Féin Senator Chris Andrews says the council’s plans for the complex are “not what the residents and community as a whole deserve”.
“This is a yellow-pack version of what residents believed would and should happen,” he says. “Obviously anything is better than what’s there, but a proper regeneration was pulled last year.”
The council had submitted plans to amalgamate the 78 flats into 44 new units, but the department refused to fund the project and said it was “not in a position to support proposals that would result in a significant loss of homes”.
Pearse House Blocks L,M,N and P known as the ’Small Flats’. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
Andrews says there are problems with leaks, damp, mould, sewage and rats in the flats, describing the conditions as “horrendous”.
“It is completely unacceptable that residents are expected to live in substandard accommodation.”