Wall featuring religious mural set to be demolished

A HUGE wall bearing a religious mural, which was damaged by construction work, was declared unsafe yesterday and will have to be demolished.

Cork City Council confirmed that an examination by their structural experts of the eight-metre high wall, in the historic Corporation Buildings, concluded that the wall is dangerous.

“We have to demolish the wall. And once that’s done, it will enable us carry out a full survey of our properties,” senior housing officer Paul Moynihan said.

The wall, which adjoined several 100-year-old council-owned properties in the tight-knit inner city community, was damaged by vibrations from building work being carried out on the former Guys site.

It broke away from the homes and tore masonry from the sides of the buildings.

Seven tenants were evacuated from their homes at the weekend. They were still staying in a city centre hotel last night.

Mr Moynihan said council officials met with the developer’s technical advisers again yesterday to discuss the demolition.

Proposals for the work, which will be carried out by the developer under council supervision, are expected to be finalised early this morning.

The demolition could get underway today.

Mr Moynihan said because of the wall’s proximity to the homes, the project will have to be done very carefully.

Residents will have to stay out of their homes for another few days, he said.

However some could be allowed to return by Monday.

“We will have a definite time frame for residents soon,” he said.

However, there was some good news for the residents yesterday.

Initial engineering surveys of their homes have shown that most of the damage was cosmetic.

But possible structural problems beneath ground still need to be assessed.

“Every day of delay seems to indicate that the problem is more serious,” Mr Moynihan said. “But that’s not the case. We are doing everything possible to ensure the area is safe. Every day we wait, the safer the situation becomes.”