Onsite: Thatch
Duncan joins Alan Galvin for the second visit to Inagh, Co. Clare. Alan is in the process of adding a sympathetic extension to his beautifully restored, traditional Irish cottage. When Duncan arrives, the thatchers are busy making repairs to the roof of the existing cottage. David, one of the Thatcher’s, chats to Duncan about the complexities and skills involved in thatching. We also get to hear more about the eco block system. Martin Lernihin has been hired by Alan to use ecological cement to build the extension.
Duncan also visits Flan Garvey’s house. In the first visit we met Flan who is a very good friend of Alan’s and has advised him on the possibility of getting a wood chipper. Paddy Donovan also joins the party. Paddy is from the Wood Energy Project and gives both Alan and Flan advice of the whole process of chipping the wood and running the boiler.
As the day ends and Duncan leaves the site, he is leaving a hive of activity and is assured that things are moving along at a very fast pace. There is sure to be plenty of progress by the time we are back in Inagh again.
Revisit: Lockhouse, Shannon Harbour
We first followed this project back in 2002. At the time Lorraine and Andy had been living on a boat on the royal canal at Shannon harbour, just before the canal meets the river Shannon. Andy had been living on the canal for the last 13 years and Lorraine had moved on in 1997 for one summer and never left! Although they absolutely loved living on the boat, they had decided that it was simply too small and that they were going to have to come on to dry land, once and for all. Luckily they didn’t have to go too far. The local lock-keepers cottage came up for sale and they immediately bought it.
The house had a lovely character and charm that Andy and Lorraine didn’t want to tamper with, however there was a lot of work to be done to make it a comfortable home. Armed with a budget of €50,000 they set to work. The front section of the house was gutted and the damp from the canal needed to be kept at bay. They added sheepswool insulation and under floor heating. At the end of the 6 months we spent with Andy and Lorraine they had transformed the place into a comfortable home and they had moved in – but there was a lot more work to be done, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. That’s why, 4 years later, Duncan has decided to come back to visit and see how the house turned out in the end………………
Social Housing
Housing policy has changed dramatically in Ireland over the last few years Once upon a time, social housing was lumped together in one area, creating major societal inequalities and areas of deprivation. These days, government policy has changed to mixed housing, the idea being that inequalities caused by sectioning off housing, will be phased out of our society. To help with this, legislation now dictates that 20% of all housing schemes should be allocated to social and affordable housing. Any schemes or developments that were given planning permission after 2001 must comply with this law.
In this piece we visit Maura Ward, who has just moved in to her new home, rented from the City Council, in Hanover Quay. We speak to her and see how she feels this new type on integration is working. We also look at some recent allegations that claim a small amount of developers aren’t standing by their commitments due to a loop hole in current law, and ask, if this is true what needs to be done to …………………..