Sewage leaks spark fear for health, safety

A MOTHER of six is pleading with the local authority to fix a raw sewage problem in her estate that has residents fearing for the health of their children.
The resident, who has been living in Druid’s Court in Ballymun for the past five years, spoke to The Gazette about the ongoing problem residents were facing with raw sewage.
She said it had been a constant problem, but more recently it had worsened with some people getting sick.
She said: “There is so much risk of infection with this [issue]. The vomiting bug has been going around; I don’t know if it’s connected but there is a cause for concern because of the sewage.
“People are walking into their homes with it because it is unavoidable. You have to walk through it to get into your house. It’s really bad.
“The kids can’t go out because there is faeces all over the court; everything is coming up from the shore. The smell is just unbelievable. It’s coming up through the sink, too,” she said.
According to the resident, this has been a problem since before she moved in five years ago.
“I think the way the system is around here is that the pipes are all connected, and it’s coming up throughout the whole court and through gardens, too.
“Nothing seems to be happening to fix it. I know there are other residents getting on to local councillors about it,” she said.
The resident is calling on Dublin City Council to fix the problem as soon as possible.
“I think there is a bigger problem than just what people are putting down their systems. I think something needs to be done with the drainage throughout the court. The whole pipe works needs to be looked at,” she said.
Cllr Noeleen Reilly (SF) has received a number of complaints about the issue in a number of different courts in the area, but Druid and Knowth Court are the worst affected.
Despite reporting the matter on numerous occasions, the problem remains.
Cllr Reilly said: “I have walked through it myself and it is just awful, so I can only imagine how tenants feel.
“Residents are at the end of their tether. They feel no one is listening to them. There is clearly a very serious drainage issue here and it needs to be sorted, once and for all.
“The courts were one area that was neglected during the [area’s] regeneration and now residents are being forced to live beside raw sewage.
“Children play in this area, and it is very dangerous for them to be among this. I don’t believe that the council is treating this problem as seriously as it should be. Residents have the right to live in a clean and safe environment,” she said.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said the sewage would be cleared on April 7, and the cause of blockages is “householders putting baby wipes, nappies and grease into the system”.
Letters have also been distributed to the households in the area requesting that they “do not do this in future”.