Neighbourless life in a wasteland

NEIGHBOURLESS and with an unedifying view of partially constructed houses, life at Gallow Hill, in Athy, Co Kildare, is not what Maria Adams signed up to.

In the stretch of 10 houses where she and her three children live, just two are occupied.

Nearby are the half-finished shells of three houses and wasteland that should have been a green.

“It’s not properly fenced off and the kids do get into those houses. There’s a cement mixer there and rubbish, really, from a health and safety point of view, it’s quite worrying.

“In fact it’s quite depressing, I thought by now I’d have a lovely green to the front of my home,” Maria said.

Five years ago, the Adamses were renting in Bray, Co Wicklow, where they couldn’t afford to buy. In August 2007, they moved into a four-bed detached house in Athy that set them back €385,000. They chose the commuter belt because her husband commutes daily by train to Dublin. There were decent schools in the area for her children, Bridget, 7, Declan, 6, and Catherine, 4. They were within walking distance of town. Gallow Hill seemed to tick all of the boxes. The builder assured them the children would have a green.

“We don’t see the builder much now though. He keeps telling us he’ll be tidying up, but it’s not getting done. The gardens aren’t being looked after, if they were, there might be more interest in the empty houses, but at the moment, the back of the estate doesn’t look good,” Maria said.

She never saw it as her dream home, Maria said, but for now, they can’t afford to move, and must contend instead with the uninspiring reality of living in an unfinished estate.