Council seeks to stop paying Priory Hall residents' rent

DUBLIN CITY Council is seeking to stop paying the accommodation costs of the residents of Priory Hall who were evacuated from their unsafe homes more than three weeks ago.

The 187-apartment complex in Donaghmede was evacuated by order of the High Court after it was found to pose a serious fire safety risk.

The council, which sought the evacuation last month, was ordered by president of the High Court Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns to cover the costs of accommodating the residents.

However the council yesterday lodged notice of an appeal to the Supreme Court seeking to have the judge’s order overturned.

Initially the residents were housed in two Dublin hotels, the Regency Hotel in Whitehall and Bewley’s Dublin Airport Hotel. Homeowners were last week offered three-month leases on properties mostly in estates close to Priory Hall.

The council is submitting that the judge erred in ordering the council to assume the responsibility for accommodating the evacuated residents; that he did not have jurisdiction to order the council to assume the responsibility of accommodating the residents; and that he erred in ordering the council, a fire safety authority, to assume responsibility for accommodating the residents.

Developer Thomas McFeely whose Coalport Building Company built the apartments in 2006 had been ordered to undertake fire safety remediation work on the building. However the council told the High Court last Friday that it was unhappy with the progress of the work and sought Mr McFeely’s removal from the site.

The work was to be completed over a five-week period concluding on November 28th, but fire safety officer Donal Casey said yesterday there was inadequate progress in works to the external wall structure although works had been carried out on some 40 apartments and internal structures.

Mr Justice Kearns granted the order to remove the developer from the site after the council indicated that a new contractor had been identified to complete the works.

The judge expressed concern for the 240 residents who remain evacuated from the complex amid uncertainty as to when the safety works would be finished, who would pay for them, and when residents would be able to return.

He described the council’s approach to the situation at Priory Hall as “half-baked” and said the council must address the situation at Priory Hall “as a matter of extreme urgency”.

He ordered that the council continue to meet the accommodation costs of the homeowners and meet shortfalls being experienced by residents entitled to rent supplements but whose alternative rented accommodation was more expensive than at Priory Hall.

Some 37 homes have been provided for homeowners by the National Asset Management Agency. The case will be before Mr Justice Kearns again today.