Riverwalk Court: Homes where trouble seeps out of the walls

The fallout from the shoddy self-regulation and frantic building splurge during the Celtic Tiger continues to seep out of the walls of homes thrown together, writes Michael Clifford

PASSING the buck has been a feature of Irish public life since time immemorial, but few instances are as blatant or as serious as what’s unfolding in a small residential development where lives have been turned upside down.

Riverwalk Court is a development of 26 apartments and duplexes in Ratoath, Co Meath. It was built in 2002 by Saltan Properties, the principal of which is Michael Ryan, a developer and stud owner, who three years ago was acquitted of bribing a town councillor with €60,000. The councillor, Fred Forsey, was imprisoned for six years for the offence.