Teachers’ conference hears of ‘waking nightmare’ of defective blocks crisis

Teachers and students in Inishowen schools are “breaking down” as a result of living in homes affected by defective concrete blocks, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland conference has been told.

Teachers from Inishowen outlined to the conference the impact the crisis is having on them, their friends, colleagues and students.

The conference unanimously passed a motion calling for 100% compensation for affected homeowners after hearing the experiences of teachers from Donegal.

The motion noted “the mental torture inflicted on adults and children” by the crisis.

Siobhán McCullagh, a teacher at Crana College in Buncrana, told the conference that the crisis is “the waking nightmare that my colleagues and students awake to each and every day”.

The mother of three said she does not know how much longer her family will be safe in their “forever home”, which is due to be demolished.

“Imagine living in a house like this, draughty, damp, depressing, and above all else dangerous,” she said.

More than a quarter of the staff at her school and around 150 of the students are affected by defective blocks, she said, and the school’s guidance counsellors report needing more time to provide counselling to affected students.

“It is not just homes that are crumbling. I am witnessing on a daily basis how our friends, colleagues and students are breaking down distressed and being debilitated by this travesty.”

Students are worrying about becoming homeless and living in dreadful unsafe conditions, she said.

“Hundreds waking from their sleep to the unsettling sound of walls cracking and blocks falling as they disintegrate, not knowing if today is the day when they will have to leave their family home forever and where they will go as their family simply does not have the means to provide another home.”

Her Crana College colleague, Áine Gallagher, told the conference that “the heartache, stress and anxiety” of owning a home affected by defective blocks “never stops”.

“My home is meant to be my safe haven, where I come home from a long day of teaching and can relax,” she said. “Our homes are a living hell, not a heaven.”

Parents have described to her the concerns they have for their children’s well-being and how their education has been affected.

“At a parent teaching meeting a parent has sat in front of me and voiced her concerns for her child's well-being and how moving out of their family home into unsuitable accommodation has impacted on the child’s education. Here I am trying to console this parent while all the time knowing this is my fate."

She described the redress scheme as “a tedious, painstaking, lengthy process that involves endless hours of document filling and uploading”.