Donegal mica homes: Bulldozers tear down 'dream home'

A recently elected councillor says it is “heartbreaking” to see the pile of rubble where her “dream house” once stood.

Joy Beard’s home, near Buncrana in Donegal, was built with defective blocks, which she found out after moving in.

She and others now represent the 100% Redress party, born out of a building scandal in which many houses in counties Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Limerick are crumbling because the blocks they were built with contain high levels of the mineral mica.

Mica absorbs water, causing walls to crack.

“It’s just heartbreaking and I really feel for so many other families,” Ms Beard said.

“You put everything into your home, it’s your place of security, your place of safety,” Ms Beard says.

“We weren’t blessed with children so I put everything into my home.”

Ms Beard’s husband took her on holiday while the builders demolished the house, which she says was “the right thing” to do so she did not have to see it.

“That was my safe place and where I enjoyed being and to see it actually being tumbled down – I don’t think I could have faced it.

“I didn’t even know it had happened. The next thing I got the photos through to show me that the house was down.”

Ms Beard said she had loved her part of Donegal since childhood.

“We always came on day trips from Limavady, so when the opportunity arose for us to move here we jumped at it,” she told BBC News NI.

“The house was just perfect. There is only me and my husband but we designed it the way we wanted. It was our safe space and now it’s gone.”

Ms Beard said they were first alerted seven years ago by a neighbour who approached them about the defective blocks scandal. Their world then fell apart.

“It initially had some cracking which I put down to settlement cracks,” she said.

“We got ours tested and sadly it came back that we had to get it demolished. It’s been a long arduous process. You have to know about buildings, finances and sort out accommodation. You are left abandoned.”

Ms Beard did think about getting a second opinion but she sensed the only way to “end the nightmare” was demolition.

“I knew it had to happen.

“It shouldn’t have had to happen if the regulations were adhered to but I’m not on my own.

“There’s thousands and thousands of families facing the very same thing that I am.”

The financial impact has been huge too.

The Irish government’s mica redress scheme – which was first announced in November 2021 – is currently capped at €420,000 (£355k), at a total cost to the exchequer of €2.2bn (£1.86bn).

“As it stands my home is worthless,” she said.

“We paid a mortgage and we haven’t long left but my home is worth the land it sits on basically.

“The grant alone doesn’t make up what the government are giving me. On top of that, I have to pay professional fees – you are talking tens of thousands.”

The couple are going to live in a caravan while their home is rebuilt.

“I’ve mixed emotions from anger to disappointment that our government has allowed this to happen,” she said.

“I’ve lots of memories especially when my late father came down to help me put up curtain poles. It was supposed to take 10 minutes, but we spent four hours and had such a laugh and so many giggles.

“If the government had done their job correctly, we would not be in this situation.”

Joy and her husband had been dreading the day the bulldozers arrived and she said she worried about other families facing the same predicament.

Campaigners say the redress scheme needs to go much further and cover the total cost of rebuilding homes that have to be demolished.

“People don’t see a way out unless this scheme improves,” Ms Beard said.

“Unless the builder can fund the start of your build, or if you can fund it, you are not going to be moving on with this scheme.”

“People are being trapped in dangerous homes and we can’t believe that the Irish government thinks that that’s in any way acceptable.

“The scheme needs to be scrapped and we need to start again. How does a pensioner at nearly 80 that phoned me – and who never used a computer – upload documents.

“Where does she get a loan to cover the initial part of her building if her builder can’t pay the upfront costs.

“Every house and its foundations must be demolished to end this nightmare for all the innocent victims. It’s so sad.”