ARCHIVES: Bed-ridden woman had to wait for house repairs
MARCH 1980
"They don't care about old people." — Mrs. Gould pictured here with her son James. The wall above Mrs. Gould's headboard is often streaming with damp and wetness.
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Wednesday March 10 2010
AN 81-year old woman lies bed-ridden in a dilapidated rural cottage in North Kerry and feels nobody cares. Considering her deplorable living conditions it's easy to see why.
Ellen Gould, Slulee Quarter, Kilmoran, Listowel, lives with her 44-year-old son, James, in a roadside cottage which has seen better days. She hoped her troubles were over when last December the County Council, after a delay of many years, moved in workmen to secure house against damp and rain.But almost as suddenly as it commenced the work stopped. This was just before Christmas and it hasn't been resumeed since.
The culprit for the delay seems to be the Southern Hotel Board which has responsibility for the welfare and health of lod people like Mrs. Gould.
Council workmen ordered 'tools down' after it was discovered that the roof of the cottage was infected with fleas. A new chimney had been built and capped and slates had been ripped off the roof before workers withdrew.
In their wake they left a cottage which was now in a worse state than before. In place of the slates, rolls of felt have been battened down. But the men left a gapping hole in the corner of the back roof and water has now an easier path than before to the inside.
Since then the workers have refused to return unless the house is deloused by the Health Board. Since work stopped the County Council has made representations to the Health Board on at least three occasions.
For the past few years the house has known nothing but dampness and cold. And according to James Gould this week, the condition of the house has deteriorated since the repair work was started and then promptly abandoned.
But the most pathetic comment came from Mrs. Gould. "Yerrah, they don't care about old people," she told The Kerryman.
According to Mr. Paul Robinson, Assistant County Manager, the Council is anxious to get on with the job.
"I do not know what the delay is on the Health Board side. I do not feel we are holding up the work," he said.
