{"id":377991,"date":"2026-04-02T08:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377991\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T08:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:47:13","slug":"pearse-house-residents-say-they-live-with-rats-mould-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377991\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearse House residents say they live with rats, mould \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing in her flat in Pearse House in Dublin\u2019s south inner city<\/a>, youth and community worker Eileen Nalty says, \u201cNobody wants to live like this.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nalty (57), who is a member of the complex\u2019s residents\u2019 association, cites problems with overcrowding, mould, antisocial behaviour, drains and vermin in the flats. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have rats in the flats every single night,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Dublin City Council<\/a> recently received project and funding approval<\/a> from the Department of Housing<\/a> to proceed with the first phase of the regeneration of Pearse House, located between Hanover Street East and Pearse Street in Dublin 2. <\/p>\n

The council\u2019s plans are for a \u201cmajor renewal works programme\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\"EileenEileen Nalty and her granddaughter Zia (18 months) at Pearse House.\u00a0Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

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 \u201cthis may have to happen to upgrade the flats to a healthy standard of living\u201d. <\/p>\n

\" Kitchen of flat occupied by Eileen Nalty in Pearse House.\u00a0Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Residents living there hold mixed views about the council\u2019s approved application, with questions over timelines, what works will take place and whether their living space will increase. <\/p>\n

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 \u20ac60 to \u20ac203 per week. <\/p>\n

\"SinnSinn F\u00e9in TD Chris Andrews: ‘This is a yellow-pack version of what residents believed would and should happen.’\u00a0Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien \"DampDamp and mould under the kitchen sink of Eileen Nalty’s flat at Pearse House.\u00a0Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family comes up and we\u2019re having a meal, sitting on sofas with the food on your lap. It\u2019s horrendous. The space is unbelievable,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cYears ago we couldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think that those who live in the flats don\u2019t work, they\u2019re on the labour and are doing this and that. The majority of people in these flats do work.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a dog box,\u201d she says. \u201cThe improvement works the council are talking about is sort of a way of us getting out, because we need social housing<\/a>. I don\u2019t work, I look after the kids, so we won\u2019t get a mortgage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JoanneJoanne lawless at her Pearse House flat.\u00a0Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times
\n \"PearsePearse House Blocks L,M,N and P known as the \u2019Small Flats\u2019.\u00a0Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Lawless says aside from the cramped conditions, there are problems with mould. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018We are just about holding it together\u2019: Overcrowding, mould and rats in Ireland\u2019s social housingOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI wash it all the time, I\u2019m sick of it,\u201d she says. \u201cI have a cough now, my son has a bit of a cough again. We only get rid of it but you\u2019re breathing it in.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Senator Chris Andrews<\/a> says the council\u2019s plans for the complex are \u201cnot what the residents and community as a whole deserve\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a yellow-pack version of what residents believed would and should happen,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously anything is better than what\u2019s there, but a proper regeneration was pulled last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cnot in a position to support proposals that would result in a significant loss of homes\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"PearsePearse House Blocks L,M,N and P known as the \u2019Small Flats\u2019.\u00a0Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Andrews says there are problems with leaks, damp, mould, sewage and rats in the flats, describing the conditions as \u201chorrendous\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is completely unacceptable that residents are expected to live in substandard accommodation.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Standing in her flat in Pearse House in Dublin\u2019s south inner city, youth and community worker Eileen Nalty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12466,13288,4507,61,60,43,13289],"class_list":{"0":"post-377991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage","9":"tag-dublin-city-council","10":"tag-dublin-2","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-social-housing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}