Cork City social housing: Little ‘art’ left in Noonan’s Rd flats riddled with mould and rodents
Cork City Council is moving forward with the demolition of several social housing blocks on Noonan’s Road due to severe structural defects, mould, and rodent infestations. While residents are being relocated, the council has faced criticism for the poor state of the buildings and inconsistent plans for other nearby flats.
Why it matters
The situation underscores the ongoing crisis in public housing maintenance and the challenges of managing aging urban infrastructure.
A tenant pointing out the mould and water damage from leaks in the bathroom in a flat at Noonan's Rd, to councillor Mick Finn (right) and community activist William O'Brien in 2023. File picture: Denis Minihane
Perhaps the flats on Noonan’s Rd really were state of the art in the 1960s, as one council official told reporters in July 2023, on a night the council visited them.
However, if they were, there is little art left in their state six decades on, with the brutalist concrete structures crumbling, and their boxy flats riddled with mould, damp, and rodent infestations.
Three years after that visit, the night the then council chief executive Ann Doherty controversially said “arses need kicking” over the state of the flats, blocks two and four are set to be demolished, with one and three scheduled to follow.
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