‘Anger and fear’ as 19 families face eviction from Letterkenny estate

Nineteen families - including a couple expecting a baby - face eviction from a Letterkenny estate with their homes set to be put up for sale.

The families at The Forest estate in Ballymacool were given eviction notices last week. Tenants, some of whom have been in their houses for over 14 years, have been given until the end of March to vacate.

Krzysztof Borkowski and his wife Alexsandra are expecting their second child at the beginning of April - and are worried that they could become homeless.

“Anger and fear, all that kind of stuff is how we are feeling,” Krzysztof, holding the couple’s three-year-old daughter Rosie, told Donegal Live. “Out of nowhere, we received a letter. I was working when my wife sent me a text message to tell me that we have six months to move out. It was very unexpected.

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“We don’t want to leave here. We planned to be here for a long time. People have known each other for a long time. Some of the people are here for 14, 15 years.”

Developer Phil Boyle of the London-based company Twin Estates Ltd - who recently sought planning permission from Donegal County Council to develop a further 52 houses in Ballymacool - wrote to the affected residents saying that the decision ‘was not one made lightly’.

“Unfortunately, due to a change in company circumstances, this was seen as the only necessary course of action,” Mr Boyle wrote. “I can understand that this notice of termination has taken you by surprise and may be causing you some stress. The huge demand for housing coupled with the current ‘Mica’ issues in Donegal makes seeking new accommodation so much more challenging.”

Rosie Borkowski attends the local creche in Ballymacool. She is one of 24 children whose families are staring into an accommodation abyss.

Krzysztof said: “We will have to find somewhere else to live now. It isn’t easy to find any place to stay now.

“If you look where there are places up for rent and compare the prices of the offers now to what we got a couple of years ago, it is a big difference.

Anita Baran has been living in Ballymacool for around eight years. She lives with her 21-year-old daughter and concedes that she may have no alternative but to leave Ireland.

“The worst plan is to go back to Poland, but this is my home,” Anita told Donegal Live. “When I go back to Poland now, I still think that Letterkenny is my home. I have goosebumps thinking like this because it is very emotional.

“We are very angry. I am trying to be calm and optimistic. We will pray that something will happen. We must look at every possible way to stay in these houses.

“I feel so sad and I feel angry. Half of my time in Ireland has been here. I have been working full-time all of my time here at Letterkenny.”

Another 56-year-old woman who lives with and cares for her 88-year-old mother has been told they must vacate the property that has become their home.

Three siblings who are living in different houses in Ballymacool now face the prospect of being separated.

While the current residents could be afforded a chance to re-occupy if the landlord doesn’t enter an agreement to sell within nine months after the end of the termination notice, this does not allay their fears.

Rising rent prices, the already-slim housing stock and the huge prices placed on the few properties that are for sale make for a bleak outlook.

“These people simply aren’t in a position to get a mortgage,” said Cathal Mac Fhloinn, the Chairperson of the Ballymacool Residents’ Association. “It is awful. Christmas is coming around the corner too. This is a time where they should be happy.

“Look at the price of renting now. Working class families just simply can’t afford this. These people are invested in this area: They work here; they go to school here; children are at creche here; they are in the clubs and the community.

“This will divide families and divide a community.”

Donegal County Council has been urged to step in and examine the possibilities around the purchase of the houses.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District, Mayor Kevin Bradley said that councillors in the area are working hard on behalf of the families concerned.

Councillor Gerry McMonagle and Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh asked the council to consider buying the houses.

Councillor McMonagle said he believed some tenants could qualify for the Tenant in Situ Scheme, which allows Local Authorities to buy properties where tenants are facing eviction. Councillor McMonagle said that the council is ‘still some time down the road from acquiring new houses’ and that it should seek to strike a deal on the Ballymacool homes at a ‘reasonable price’.

Councillor Kavanagh said: “I know everybody has their own circumstances, but I think we should be talking to the Department and see the possibility of buying.

“A lot of this is going to end up back on the council’s lap anyway. We are in a fairly unique situation in Donegal with defective blocks and we should be making our case because those families will have to be housed.”

Seamus Canning, Area Manager, Housing & Corporate Services told the meeting that the council would be happy to meet with tenants, but that the overall situation would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Mac Fhloinn said the Residents Association will ‘plead with the developer to reverse the decision’ and added: “We need to prevent these people from becoming homeless.

“We will also speak to the RTB (Residential Tenancies Board). Each case is unique and each case will be assessed individually. It will depend on how long they are here and how long their notice period is. We will put in an appeal to have each case heard.”

Last month, Mr Boyle submitted an application to Donegal County Council seeking planning permission for 52 houses, comprising 20 four-bed semi-detached houses; one four-bed detached house; 30 three-bed semi-detached houses; and one three-bed detached house.

The local authority says that a decision is due to be made by November 7.