Tenants resort to 'pouring bleach' to stop intruders at Coolock council complex
“I sit in the dark so nobody knows I’m home” says one fearful resident whose Coolock apartment complex has been plagued by anti-social behaviour.
Following Dublin Live’s coverage of nightmare situations for residents at De Verdon Place on the Malahide Road and Burnell Place in Northern Cross , a Dublin City Council tenant at Bunratty Walk has outlined dangerous conditions she's living in and the dire need for a security guard to return to her complex. For safety reasons, this resident has asked to remain anonymous.
A broken front entrance means non-residents can consistently gain access to the building. Vulnerable tenants, many living alone or with small children, now face daily "aggressive" encounters because the security door is repeatedly vandalised, rendering the building’s key-fob system useless.
"Residents have disconnected their doorbells due to the amount of people that want to get into the complex that don't live there. They ring all doorbells to try get in and without success the main door gets broken," she said.
Bunratty Walk is directly managed by Dublin City Council and this resident says that she cannot understand why the security guard who previously maintained safety across the 64 home development is no longer in place. With homeless people sleeping in the car park and in hallways, she says residents have resorted to pouring bleach onto the stairs to deter non-residents from sleeping on them.
The resident described her building being taken over by groups of youths who damage property and hurl abuse at tenants. She described harassment directed at the community’s most vulnerable members.
“The slurs that the kids are coming out with are awful” she said, highlighting those with disabilities and the LGBT+ community as the main targets of the abuse. “One resident was really upset by the slurs.”
Instances of vandalism have only intensified since the building was first opened in July 2023. She outlined terrifying incidents of heavy household items thrown from upper floor balconies with no regard to people’s safety.
"There's been radiators pulled off the wall from apartments and thrown over the balcony onto the main footpath outside. I don't know how nobody's got a brain injury from it. There's been bicycles thrown over the balcony. Nobody looks when they’re throwing this stuff over."
This resident says that all the tenants want to do is “live in peace” and despite strong communication from the council when she first moved in, she claims that her emails are often ignored and she feels like her only option now is to speak to the media.
“All they keep saying is, 'there's a process.' It's like we're sick of hearing of a process. They say 'ring the guards.' I am sick of those words coming out of them. We just want to enjoy our forever homes as they call them,” she said.
The discovery of drug paraphernalia, knives, and human waste in the car park and common areas is a major point of concern. “There were mattresses in the bin shed, there were sheets full of human stuff. There were drug deals from the bin. All our cars were being sat on. Some cars were damaged,” she said.
“We just want to live in peace, that’s really all we want to do. I don't think someone should have to live in fear. People deserve to live in a peaceful environment.”
Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.
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