Neighbours from Hell! Parties, assaults and drug dealing in Tipperary's social houses

Tipperary County Council’s housing transfers request list is growing because of the problems council tenants are suffering due to anti-social behaviour on the estates they are living in, a Carrick-on-Suir councillor told a meeting of Tipperary County Council last week.

Cathaoirleach of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District Cllr David Dunne complained at the Council’s September meeting that anti-social behaviour from a tiny minority of people has “gone through the roof”.

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The Sinn Féin councillor was one of several south Tipperary councillors who highlighted at the meeting how anti-social behaviour ranging from late night parties and unsightly rubbish piles in back gardens to criminal activity like drug dealing being in council and semi-private housing estates are making life miserable for residents.

Cllr Dunne said he realised it was a sensitive issue and was sorry to have to raise it at the meeting but declared it was time the Council “got tough” on people engaging in anti-social behaviour.

“What is happening now is that transfer lists are growing because people want to get out. They feel they have no option,” he told Council management.

He said the Council needs to take account of the people living next door to those engaging in anti-social behaviour. They were living through a “nightmare”.

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He was speaking from personal experience of anti-social behaviour as he recounted how he suffered “awful blackguarding” in the estate where he lived for two years.

Cllr Dunne cited house parties along with drug dealing and residents leaving rubbish pile up in their back gardens among the anti-social behaviour problems residents, both in council estates and semi-private estates are dealing with.

His Tipperary Town party colleague Cllr Anne Marie Ryan said she too has been dealing with constituents seeking transfers from council housing due to anti-social behaviour.

She had attended court for one of two cases concerning anti-social behaviour.

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“I think we (the Council) are extremely tolerant and perhaps we should be less tolerant,” she said.

Clonmel Fine Gael Cllr John Fitzgerald said Cllr Dunne was right to raise the anti-social behaviour problems residents were living with and asked the Council what action does it take to deal with council tenants who have rubbish piled up on their properties?

Fethard based Cllr Michael ‘Chicken’ Brennan also wanted to know what were the repercussions for council tenants who behaved badly.

He highlighted how anti-social behaviour was “coming to the fore big time” in housing schemes in Fethard, Killenaule and Mullinahone.

And he cited the lack of Garda manpower in these areas as adding to the difficulties in dealing with the problem.

He pointed out that residents were afraid to speak up about the problems they were experiencing.

One man who spoke up and had a few words with people was boxed in the jaw. The assault wasn’t reported to gardaí because the victim was told not to do so. Sadly that man has since passed away.

He cited a case where elderly residents were living beside a house where drug dealing was taking place. “They have three locks on their doors and are afraid to speak up,” he pointed out.

The Labour councillor also highlighted how a lot of fireworks were being let off in Fethard and other anti-social behaviour was even spilling out into Fethard Town Park.

Independent Cllr Liam Browne also reported how anti-social behaviour is impacting residents in the 50-year-old estate he grew up in Cashel.

“That estate has been destroyed by the decision of Tipperary County Council to house a family who from day one had gardaí in and out of the estate up to seven times a day.”

He agreed with Cllr Brennan that some residents are too afraid to report anti-social behaviour but pointed out when he contacted the Council’s liaision officer to report such problems on behalf of residents he was told it was preferrable for the complaint to be made by the tenant.

He strongly advocated for councillors to be allowed make these complaints on behalf of constituents. “We know our own areas, we know what our constituents have to put up with,” he argued.

Cllr Browne wondered if councillors advised tenants to sue Tipperary County Council over anti-social behaviour problems would the Council move more quickly to deal with the issues.

He said the Council has a serious responsibility and if people continued to misbehave they should be removed from their council home quickly.

The Council’s Housing Director Jonathan Cooney responded that the Council has an Anti-Social Behaviour Policy approved by its elected members and pointed out the Gardaí take the lead on criminal and public order incidents that arise.

He stressed most of its Council tenants don’t have problems with anti-social behaviour but noted that Tipperary County Council has been one of the few local authorities in the country that has been successful in securing the eviction of tenants for anti-social behaviour.

He said the Council’s decision to pursue legal action in such cases depended on the level of anti-social behaviour. “Sometimes it’s not worth going before the courts where it’s at a level where it will be successful.”

Council Housing Senior Executive Officer Shane O’Dwyer assured councillors the personal details of people who make anti-social behaviour complaints to the Council are kept confidential though he noted that when they bring a case to court the more evidence they have the stronger your case will be.

He encouraged people experiencing difficulties due to anti-social behaviour to contact the gardaí or ring 999 where any reports are logged on the Garda Pulse System. The reporting of such incidents strengthens the Council’s case in taking action against people engaging in this behaviour.

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In relation to cases where rubbish is piled up the grounds of council houses, Mr O’Dwyer encouraged residents to contact the Council’s Tenant Liaison Officer who along with staff from the Council’s Environment Section will call to the property and engage with the tenant to get the refuse removed.

Cllr John Fitzgerald said he felt the Council’s response to such tenants was a “bit weak” and argued the tenant responsible for the rubbish will feel like they have been “savaged by a lamb” if the Council’s response is to send out the TLO.
Council CEO Sinead Carr defended the Council’s record in dealing with anti-social behaviour .

She said anti-social behaviour was not acceptable in the Council’s estates and agreed nobody should have to live in an estate where this was going on.

Ms Carr said listening to some councillors you’d think the Council wasn’t doing anything and she stressed this wasn’t the case.

The CEO assured councillors that if there is significant anti-social behaviour happening in its estates, the Council will address the issue.

She said the Council works closely with the Gardaí and reiterated Mr Cooney’s point that Tipperary County Council is one of the few local authority’s in Ireland to successfully secure eviction orders through the courts.

She pointed out that such cases can take several years due to the way the justice system works. The Council could only work within the processes and procedures available to it. The issue wasn’t “straight forward or black and white”, she added.

In relation to the confidentiality afforded to people making complaints, she stressed that no complainant’s name was ever released by the Council during her time in charge of the Council’s Housing Section.

“Nobody should be afraid to come forward and give us details,” she added.

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