Hi everyone. So this is it.. Autumn/Winter ‘23, is almost upon us, the scheme has finally been unveiled so we know what we’re dealing with there and we have a lot of work to do. In this video I’m going to give you a run down of what’s happening in each of the Ten Redress Focus Groups and what the plans are going forward. I will also give you a run down on what I’ve been doing over the summer and how I see the only way things working going forward. It won’t be a short video but all of this is important. I believe in keeping people up to date and being transparent. I just haven’t had time to do this until now.
A few things before I get in to the Groups info.
Firstly our website is almost finished and all of the information I give here will soon be available to access and read in more detail on the website. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.
The ball is rolling for a special meeting to take place with several representatives of the Redress Focus Groups and all county councillors and Council Executives to discuss the many serious issues we face and press on them the urgent need for real action. Jack Murray has sent a request for this to the Mayor Martin Harley. We await a response and hope this meeting can take place with all Donegal TDs, councilors and executives in attendance.
In early summer I did a call out for committee members to come forward to form the Redress Focus Groups Committee with a view to getting help to run the initiative and also to register as a small community group. Thanks to the ad hoc committee members Karen Hamilton, Peter Fox, Margaret Patten Plunkett, Mary Connors, George Hill and a few other members who are hoping to come on board soon too. It soon became clear we need to register as a full charity which it turns out is a massive undertaking that we need help with. I’ll get back to that. So the first group update ..
The Lobbying Focus Group – Mary Connors wrote and submitted Redress Focus Groups contribution to the committee meeting in the dail in June. A copy of which can be found on the redress focus groups Facebook page. She has also submitted and been engaging with the Public Consultation Process – Ireland’s Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2023 – 2025. She has had a positive response and we look forward to hearing more on this.
Recently a worrying revelation came up that DCC intend to build houses in a field very close to a row of 12 defective block houses in a private estate involving serious potential damage to these already damaged homes due to vibration from piled foundations. The lobbying group have engaged with the residents and councilors and a meeting will take place with residents of this estate soon. We need to support this as the government urgently need to change their planning and construction policies taking in to consideration fragile homes close to construction areas.
Another major issue that’s needs highlight is the one Yvonne Shevlin spoke about with Greg Hughes on Highland yesterday regarding the selling and reselling of houses and whose responsibility it is to pay for the testing of the property. There is no regulation around this and it is not a requirement to even state whether or not a home has or may have defective blocks.
Issues like this are what the Lobbying focus group is for, so do come forward to help get things like this sorted and dealt with.
The Mental Health and schools Focus Groups. A multidisciplinary team has been established from primary schools up to university level. A PhD student is now beginning a 3 year research programme in to the Defective Blocks Crisis on people and families. Together we will liaise with schools and people and families to help in this research and in turn prove the need for supports to be put in place. The group is compiled of professions and researchers in Psychology, education and mental health.
I have now expanded the previous DB blocks schools educational and well being programme for second level students in to a 6 module customisable course for teens and adults. Each module is 2 hours long and can be delivered independently or together as a full course. The modules cover the crisis, the campaign, community, Resiliency, self care and wellbeing. I am in the process of sending this course to any and all institutions that may take some or all of the modules in to consideration to help teens and adults throughout the community in schools, work or community settings. This will be available to read on the website soon.
The Health Focus Group have been working on a lot of things and have secured meetings in Dublin with various department officials. Their update will be available soon.
The Support Hub Focus Group – we have met several times and have worked really hard to find a pathway for the Support Hub. funding of the hub. We have spoken to TDs and various different people asking their advice on how to go about this. We have begun the process of applying for PeacePlus funding via the DCC. It appears we have no choice but to register as a charity if we are to get funding but the housing agency can simply fund this. To make homeowners undertake this massive task is unfair so we await word from them. I am due to speak to John o Connor soon on this matter and we in the group will be pushing this harder than ever now over autumn and winter. We need experienced people to come forward on this. Please get in touch re setting up as a charity and filling in funding applications. We also need legal advice and an accountant. I have put together a new document describing what the hub could do and why we need it. It will be released shortly and put on the website.
The Building and Construction, Costings and Temporary Accommodation Focus Groups – a special meeting on these issues is taking place in An Grianan on the 15th of September. This is a blank page meeting with nothing set in stone when we gather in that room only the assurance that we are faced with a massive construction site stretching the whole of Donegal and that’s a problem. One we need to solve.
We need to find a way to rebuild Donegal in the most innovative, efficient and cost effective ways possible. We urge all trade, building and construction professionals to come to this meeting on the 15th to begin talks on how we go forward from here. The time is now. We need to discuss everything in relation to these huge issues right down to semi detached homes where one is demolished and one isn’t, semi detached homes that share a chimney and also the issue of temporary accommodation – all ideas are welcome for example – do we need 4 Green sites in Donegal with at least 12/14 cabins on each site so that families can live here while their homes are rebuilt. 1 in Carn, Buncrana and 2 in Letterkenny? Or What about 2 cabins in the Green areas of each housing estate in Donegal? I am awaiting a call back from the planning section of DCC about this and will update on that at the meeting. These are just examples of ideas but nothing is off the table on the 15th. We can’t continue to ignore this. We need to act. I am far out of my comfort zone on this issue but I will facilitate the meeting as is the whole point of Redress Focus Groups. To bring people who know what they’re talking about together to help solve the issues we’re facing.
You will find a post on the Redress Focus Groups pages and the 100% Redress NoLess! page with a call out for costings. If you have examples of the cost of your rebuild please sent it, anonymously if you wish.
The Banking and Insurance Focus Group. They have achieved in a few short months what nobody else has been able to achieve . They have at this point brought all of the major, some of minor and even vulture funds financial institutions to the table along with the banking federation of Ireland, the minister for finance, have spoken at the finance committee meeting in the Dail and also to Insurance Ireland. They have explained our situation in detail – detail that before these meetings these institutions and officials had no idea about. These talks are ongoing and the group are optimistic but cautious at this stage.
The Statistics and Data Focus Group – shockingly to date our government has made no attempt to to do any surveys or find out an accurate number of exactly how many homes, rentals, holiday, investment, commercial, community, schools, crèches, public or private buildings or even septic tanks are affected across this entire county. Since the beginning of the summer this focus group have come together and embarked on this huge quest. I urge you all to answer their surveys when they come out and come forward in your droves when they need information. With this information we can prove so much and prove this crisis is real because so far our government do not seem to acknowledge this fact. In fact – through their neglect they have turned this crisis in to a humanitarian crisis. A crisis on top of a crisis. We will not stand for it.
The Media and PR Focus Group. This group will be restarting soon and we want to ask anyone with experience in social media, PR, graphic design, journalism etc to please come forward. One project just getting off the ground is being funded by Prontocalc – a self build costing company. Together with 3 script writers who have given up their time and skills they are developing a short animated infographic video explaining the true reality of Defective Blocks Crisis despite the government having everyone believe we are all sorted and getting a full 100% redress. We’re very grateful for this.
Students – A lot of the work in the groups would be ideal for students to build their experience and portfolios or help with research so I’m also calling on ATU, North West Regional College and University of Ulster and any other youth and community groups to mention the Redress Focus Groups as and option for their students to participate in. We have degree students and PhD students in our Mental Health Focus Group and are really looking forward to working with them.
Redress Focus Groups held our first meeting on the 26th of January of this year. Myself, Brenda Tierney Joyce, Joy Beard and Claire McDaid got the show on the road initially and without their help in setting it up in the first few months the initiative wouldn’t exist. Since then the initiative has continued to grow but takes a lot of work to keep going. The firm belief was that if a call out was done the people would come forward to help. This crisis belongs to the people so all of the people needed a base to start from, to organise ourselves from. Now we have it. And look how far we have come in only 7 months.
I urge you all to come forward and join a group. Be part of solving one of these major issues, join one that you feel you would like to get stuck in to.
I’d like to mention that MAG will be doing meetings regarding information on the scheme and those meetings are important as they’re relaying how the scheme works as it is a minefield. These meetings are spectate to our meetings as Redress Focus Group are a separate initiative from MAG who primarily work on the scheme while RFG work on all the other major issues within the crisis but including of course the financial issues of the scheme which our Banking and Insurance Focus Group deal are dealing with.
I have signed up to the Coleman Legal case and would recommend you consider the option seriously. It may be the only way to be fully compensated for or losses both physically and emotionally.
Upcoming RFG Meetings:
The dates for our meetings during autumn/winter have all been booked starting with the first one on the 12th of September at 7.00 pm then every 6 weeks on the 24th of October and the 5th of December. All on Tuesdays at 7pm in An Grianan Hotel. We can’t thank An Grianan Hotel enough for allowing us to hold every single meeting free of charge and setting up the rooms for us. We are really grateful for the support they’ve shown the community. The food is beautiful there I highly recommend it.
We will hold a special meeting for the construction sector only on Friday the 15th of September. All meetings are open to the general public whether you volunteer or not and double up as support meetings. The meeting on the 15th is only in the conference room and won’t be open to the general public.
From tiny acorns mighty oaks grow.
I want to mention a hugely important book which will be released very soon. It is a detailed timeline of events explaining everything about our crisis from when it started to the present day and it was written by our adopted Irish daughter, Debbie McCoy who has toiled over this meticulously. We owe her a lot as this work is invaluable help that we need. Debbie’s book is a reference book – A definite coffee table staple for any serious Defective Blocks property owner 😉 it was then designed and formatted by Brenda Joyce and has turned out really well. I would like to get a hardback version myself. I am hoping someone will fund the printing of these books so we can all get a copy. Knowledge is power. If you know what’s happening, you’re much more able to understand, cope and deal with whatever it is.
I also want to mention the number one Paddy Diver. Someone said to me recently that he was quiet. It may seem that way as during the summer everyone leans back from the campaign at least online, but let me assure you he is working really hard on a lot of issues all of the time. I communicate with him on a regular basis about a lot of it and he is a great support who almost always has the right answer on how to deal with things. Paddy is also a valuable member of the Banking and Insurance Focus Group so he is busy and hasn’t taken his foot off the pedal.
Lisa Doherty who works tirelessly on the 100% Redress No Less! page with 25 thousand people on it. She has crafted it in to helpful and supportive place and that was no small feat coming from what it once was.
I want to acknowledge and thank Bjorn Kleizen of Antwerp University. Bjorn got in touch with me in June about a new political/psychology research project the university is undertaking. The research group are studying how crises revolving around government redress may trap citizens in a state of ‘administrative limbo’, which may potentially cause a variety of adverse psychological and social effects. The project covers 4 different crises in Europe in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and ours in Ireland. The similarities in how these governments deal with them is striking but the research is ongoing so no findings have been published. Bjorn spoke to 7 RFG volunteers, some while he was here in Donegal and some remotely from his home in the Netherlands. Our inclusion in their extensive research project is invaluable so I want to thank Bjorn for getting in touch and working with all of us. He interviewed me as a campaigner and as a homeowner as they’re doing work from both points of view. The findings of this research will be very interesting and helpful for us. Bjorn is doing a live lecture in Belgium mid September so I’ll post the link if I can.
The future – With all of that said, The initiative of the Redress Focus Groups is in jeopardy. If we don’t get the help we need now to keep it going we will not be able to sustain it at this level – has it almost become too successful! We now really need a small office with a few staff and from this we can run Redress Focus Groups like it needs to be run, the housing agency could at least give us that surely! From there we can get register as a charity, we can then apply for funding, then we can get the hub, then we can run Redress Focus Groups from there where we can then get teams in place that we need – like removal teams that will help uninstall, wrap, remove, store, and then after rebuilds collect from storage, unwrap, reinstall things like bathrooms, kitchens, and built in wardrobes etc. This is only a small example of what the hub will and can do if it ever happens.
I want to thank each and every single volunteer on each and every one of the focus groups to date for even the smallest input they might have had in helping us get through this nightmare so far and I wish every one of you luck in your endeavours as you continue to reach out your hands to work together to pull us up from the hole we are in.
There’s only one way I see this working and that’s if we all get stuck in. Thanks again for supporting and believing in this initiative. Having achieved so much in such a short space of time, if more people get involved now think about how things will look in another 6 months time, 12 months time, 18 months time. There is potential here to cross some of the major issues and headaches right off the list. The ultimate goal is to go from 10 focus groups as it is now to zero. And I believe we can do it!
Look on the Facebook page for a list of all the groups and email redressvolunteers@gmail.com when you’re ready to join one. Even the smallest idea can make all the difference. Don’t anyone think they have nothing to offer. Your involvement alone empowers you and gives both you and others encouragement and hope. Do it.
There are too many people to name so apologies for not being able to name everyone but I wanted to. I hope I don’t get scolded for leaving out something really important but that’s all I got for now.
So that’s it folks – Redress Focus Groups Making Change Happen Together. I’ll post a link to a document of the written version of what I’ve said here so you can print it out for anyone not on social media that might want it.
We didn’t put ourselves in this mess but we can get ourselves out of it. Stay hopeful, it’s a long road but we’ll get there, together.