Tragic Death in the “Flats”

It was with profound sadness that I read about the death of Rachel Peavoy in her flat in Ballymun on the 11th of January from hypothermia.

http://www.thejournal.ie/woman-died-of-hypothermia-in-flat-after-council-refused-to-fix-heating-2011-1/

The first thing that struck me was that this had happened weeks ago and without the inquest being reported on twitter her death could and probably would have passed me by, that this young women could have died in such tragic circumstances and we as a nation did not notice. She died on the same day as Michaela Harte was murdered so that obviously was grabbing the headlines but this young women’s death deserved to be marked too.

The second thing that horrified and really shocked me that anyone could have died from hypothermia whilst living in the flats in Ballymun, now that might seem like a weird statement people can die of hypothermia anywhere particularly after the cold weather we have recently experienced but allow me to elaborate.

You see I grew up in the flats in Ballymun. The above is a picture of my old road. Where Rachel Peavoy lived with her young children was about a five minute walk from my old flat which has been demolished like so many of the 4 storeys, 7 storeys and the tower blocks around Ballymun but contrary to popular belief not all. One thing that people living in the flats when I was there never did was go cold. Back when the only tiger we knew about was up in the zoo we had something that most people didn’t even know what it was to dream about. Underfloor heating! We had no fires, no immersion, no radiators just a magical all year round under floor heating system that meant rain or hail, snow or shine as soon as you walked in the door of your flat you could often strip down to your T-shirt. Now it wasn’t really magical it was powered by a large boiler house which many of you will have driven by on the way to the airport or more recently on the way to ikea.

But it did mean that no matter how tough things were for people they had a warm house and hot water, lots and lots of hot water. In fact it was often joked by my mother that one of the reasons I became such a good swimmer was that we had so much hot water I could practice my swimming in the bath everyday.
This heating system was taken out of commission in January 2010 and it seems that the new system broke down in Rachel Peavoys flat and the council refused to fix it. I’m not sure if this was just negligence or it there was some sort of dispute over payment of rent or moving out of the flat, that is something we may never know but we may be given some indication when the inquest in reconvened
next month. The fact is it doesn’t matter. This young women and her family were let down by the council, by the government and by society at large.

Like so many of the people of disadvantaged areas in the country that were subject to so-called “Regeneration”, Limerick, St Micheal’s Estate, Dolphins Barn they have been left to rot in half finished estates. In Ballymun private housing has been built on the parks and the playgrounds most of which are far more unsightly than the high rises ever were. These are lying empty or being leased back to the government via the rent allowance schemes. Yes there is a fantastic theatre and of course IKEA but there is little or no shopping facilities or amenities.

In the next few weeks when you encounter politician’s, when they knock on your door asking for your vote ask them what they and their parties are going to do for the people in these areas. What are they going to do to prevent something like this happening again. What is their policy on social housing and on continuing to line the pockets of landlords with rent allowance? I know we are all feeling it in our pockets after the budget and are angry after the bailout but please don’t let us lose our humanity. We need a society not just an economy