Council tenants targeted by arson attacks to be rehoused 'for their own safety'
With instances of anti-social behaviour, arson attacks, and threats to people’s lives at “epidemic” levels, Dublin City Council state council tenants being directly targeted will be moved for their own safety.
Mick Clarke from the council’s estate management unit described threats to life and arson attacks as “the new epidemic” in Dublin and revealed he was dealing with six cases of families who had been “burnt out” of their homes. With the threat of drug gangs hanging over people’s lives, he said “if a family is burned out of a property they are not going back in” and the procedure is to “move them into a different area.”
The reason for this is threefold, Mr Clarke told representatives at the latest Housing and Social Inclusion SPC. He said the first reason is if a family is rehoused out the same location there could be a repeated incident and even fatalities, “people would ask why did you put them back in,” he said.
Secondly, he stated “we have a duty of care to the neighbours and the community as whole” to immediately address the problem. The final reason is the “huge amount of money” it costs to get a burned home back into a “liveable condition.”
While some affected families may feel like they are being punished for an attack that was carried out on them, Mr Clarke said the council “are not prepared to take the chance” that it won’t happen again. He stressed any rehousing will be like for like, meaning if they were in a two-bedroom or three-bedroom they will be rehoused in a comparable situation.
He said they work together with gardai to get families out of what is deemed the “danger area” and that this is the strategy for dealing with “firebombed properties.” He said: “At the end of the day, we have a report that these people are in danger and have a responsibility to move them."
The threat of violence is not something faced by council tenants alone, as council staff members have been directly threatened by perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. He said this has gone as far as staff having “pipe bombs placed under their car outside their home.”
While this has been distressful for council staff and they are given the option to have their role moved to a different department, Mr Clarke said most choose to remain within housing. He said in the past the council were often “slow to react” to these concerns but “we have hit the nail on the head and there’s a process in place” to “aid any member who feels they are in threat.”
People Before Profit Councillor Hazel De Nortúin spoke about the “chronic cases of intimation women and children” that have occurred in Dublin 10 and welcomed the formation of a working group to come up an updated strategy for addressing anti-social behaviour. She stressed the importance of supporting families experiencing the “new form” of intimidation that is arson attacks.
The threat of retaliation for anyone pushing back against anti-social behaviour is very real according to Sinn Fein Cllr Janice Boylan, who said she often finds area officers are reluctant to deal with this type of activity. “Everybody is human and nobody wants to be intimidated by people if they know your face,” she said.
These comments were echoed by Sinn Fein Cllr Daithí Doolan, who expressed his belief that the council are often quicker to pursue people in rent arrears than they are to address “serious criminal activity.” “There's a push to reduce our rent arrears quite rightly but sometimes at the expense of people involved in very serious anti-social behaviour,” he said.
He said there has been a “serious increase in racism” in recent years, which has “spread like a contagion” to bring conflict into communities where there shouldn’t be any. “Drug related activity and racism is driving people out of their homes, burning people out of their homes is unacceptable,” he said.
Mr Clarke stressed the importance of those affected by anti-social behaviour making complaints or having them made on their behalf so the council can be made aware of worrying situations. He said “we will take a complaint in any format” and that there isn’t a need to sign a document or even give their name.
“Even if we know who they are, we understand the fear factor,” he said. Mr Clarke explained that the council has gone as far as the High Court to protect the identity of a complainant and that this “still stands today.” He stressed anonymity is “100% protected” and that tenants can phone in complaints or have them come in through a third party.
“Once the complaint comes to our desk the complainant is out of the frame. It’s up to us to determine whether there’s validity in that complaint and what happens with that,” he said.
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