‘Depressed & bewildered’: Kildare couple claim they are being ignored by council

A COUPLE living in very poor conditions in a rural part of Kildare claim they have been ignored by Kildare County Council.

Robert (60) and Miriam Bickerdike (65) live in Old Kilcullen, a rural area roughly 4km from Kilcullen town centre.

They say they have had issues with the flow of water in the tap in the kitchen of their council home for the last month and the council has not yet acted.

The couple also cite lack of insulation, mold and the deteroiating condition of the house as issues.

‘Depressed’

Ms Bickerdike also said that the current situation makes her feel “depressed and bewildered”.

Both Bickerdikes have serious health issues.

They contacted the Kildare Nationalist primarily over an issue with water flow in their kitchen tap.

The couple said that after the tap stopped working properly slowing to a trickle, they contacted the council on 16 March. Between then and a visit to the house by the Kildare Nationalist on 10 April, they rang the council eight or nine times, according to Mr Bickerdike.

Mr Bickerdike said the council have not adequately responded to the calls.

He claimed on one occasion that he has been hung up on. The Kildare Nationalist was present as Mr Bickerdike rang the council, with there being no answer. He said that this is a regular occurrence.

According to Mr Bickerdike, the council said that they sent out a contractor who could not gain access to the property, which is protected by electric gates.

The Bickerdike’s have CCTV, and Mr Bickerdike said that the footage shows no one from the council came.

rodent poison

The couple said that they have an issue with rodents, with Mrs Bickerdike saying that she hears them in the walls. They use rodent poison regularly.

They said that there has been smoke coming out of the washing machine while a press door has fallen off.

The couple said that the council has failed to adequately communicate with them and has failed to address the issue with the tap.

Mr Bickerdike is a native of Old Kilcullen. He owns an acre and a half of land adjacent to the council-owned property. The house was built when he was in his late teens in the 1980’s, and he has been living there for around 42 years.

He said he was a county council employee previously, cleaning the streets of Kilcullen. He has a history of oesophageal cancer and is set for a scan in the near future, with worries that the disease may have returned.

Ms Bickerdike is from Dorset Street in Dublin’s North inner City, and notes the stark difference between her rural surroundings and those in which she grew up, where shops and essential services were close by.

She does not drive and is reliant on Robert, who drives a mobility scooter. They use an attached trailer on the scooter in which Ms Bickerdike sits when she needs to access essential services. She suffers with COPD and high blood pressure.

The Kildare Nationalist contacted Kildare County Council for comment on the matter.

‘Urgency of the issue’

The council said they could not comment on the specifics of the case but mentioned that maintenance requests are assessed by urgency. The council said following in an email to the Kildare Nationalist.

‘Kildare County Council cannot comment on individual households or cases and we are not in a position to confirm or discuss any specific communications or visits, due to data protection and privacy obligations.

‘In general terms, where a tenant reports a maintenance issue, the council records the report, assesses the nature and urgency of the issue, and arranges an inspection and/or repair through the relevant maintenance team or appointed contractor.

Reports are prioritised in line with their urgency and residents are contacted where access is required or where further information is needed to progress the matter.

‘ If the individuals involved wish to have their concerns reviewed, they can do so through the council’s customer service and housing maintenance channels, and they may also use the council’s formal complaints process where they are dissatisfied with service or communication.’

Ms Bickerdike claimed someone from the council who had previously done work for the council in the couple’s bathroom had hung up on Robert when he rang the individual.

‘Got Nowhere’

The Bickerdikes said that two people from the council had come to the house two days after the Kildare Nationalist had contacted the council.

Ms Bickerdike said her husband had rang the council “seven days in a row and got nowhere”.

She gave her view one council employee they encountered “did not want to know” about the issues with the house when they visited.

From their experience, the couple feel that “people on disability kind of don’t matter”.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme