The expected approval of County Sligo to be included in the Defective Blocks Remedial Scheme by the Minister for Housing in the Dáil today has been welcomed by the Sligo Pyrite Action Group who have been campaigning on this issue since 2021.
Group P.R.O and Sinn Féin Councillor Thomas Healy has welcomed the expected approval by Dáil Eireann as vindication of three long years of campaigning on this issue.
Cllr. Healy says It had been apparent since 2014, when the Local Authorities demolished a number of houses in Bunninadden due to the presence of pyrite, that Sligo has a problem with defective blocks particularly in the south west of the County.
Many dozens of homeowners had become concerned when the big freeze of 2010 revealed deep cracks and crumbling in their structures but he says this has been denied and ignored by successive governments.
Despite the adoption of the Defective Blocks Scheme in Donegal and Mayo there was no provision for Sligo to be included in the scheme.
The Sligo Pyrite Action Group was formed in 2021 and, with the help of similar groups in Donegal and Mayo, lobbied the County Council directly in their monthly meeting to have a Council Committe formed and resourced.
Cllr Healy has been telling Midwest News that while this is a hugely welcome development it is still only a first step for many families who have already had to leave their family homes due to safety concerns, pay mortgages and rent simultaneously.
