Council under fire over heating in wake of death

DUBLIN City Council continued to fail to provide alternative sources of heating during the recent cold spell to tenants who refused to leave their homes in Ballymun flat complexes undergoing regeneration work, despite the earlier death of a young woman from hypothermia.

Last night the family of 30-year-old Rachel Peavoy, who a coroner’s court last week found had died of hypothermia in her Dublin City Council flat last January, said they were distraught over the death of the young mother-of-two.

Ms Peavoy died of hypothermia after the council turned off her heating in January 2010 during one of the coldest ever periods.

Social campaigner Fr Peter McVerry, who lives in the adjacent block to Ms Peavoy, said during the recent cold weather he had been approached by a woman in a similar situation seeking an alternative heating source due to the council turning off her heating system.

“There is a centralised central heating system in Ballymun which means all the flats in a complex are heated from a central boiler in the case of the regeneration. In a block of flats where there are only one or two families left the system is closed down as it involves heating 90 to 100 flats which are empty. People in Ballymun don’t have alternative forms of heating because the central heating system is very good.”

It is believed that Ms Peavoy may have been offered accommodation elsewhere in Ballymun during the regeneration of her block but had requested to stay in her home.

Fr McVerry added: “Only a week before Christmas another lady came to me who was in a similar situation, her heating had been turned off and she was frozen. People on social welfare often don’t have money to spend on new heaters and this woman came to me and I got her two heaters.”

The Dublin coroners court heard last week that Ms Peavoy visited her GP one month before her death to request a letter for heating costs. The inquest was adjourned until February 24 to obtain further statements about the condition of Ms Peavoy’s flat.

Cork city councillor Ted Tynan said the issue of people lacking the basic right to heat was countrywide due to people being unable to afford to pay ESB bills.

“People do not risk having their electricity supply disconnected unless they are in dire trouble with their family finances,” he said.