Night of hell for residents of Bagenalstown apartments

PERSISTENT anti-social behaviour and criminal damage at the Manor House apartment blocks in Bagenalstown has ramped up again, with windows, doors and post boxes being smashed in recent weeks.

A group of residents in one apartment block were locked inside the building one recent weekend, when the windows of the main front door were smashed and the lock was damaged. They couldn’t open the door and had to be released by the fire service after being locked in overnight.

“We were terrified. They used a fire extinguisher to break the lock – there was glass everywhere and we couldn’t get out. We don’t have a fire escape so it was genuinely scary for us. Whoever did it must have been trying to get in,” said ‘Margaret’, who is too afraid to use her real name in case the culprits come after her.

When residents voiced their concerns about the anti-social behaviour and criminal damage last week, a series of post boxes were smashed in retaliation. The downstairs windows in another apartment block were also smashed, with one family being particularly vulnerable because they had a baby in their apartment.

Margaret believes that much of the criminal damage is being carried out by a handful of young people who don’t even live in the Manor House.

Another persistent problem is the use of drugs in some of the flats. She reckons that strangers are coming into the apartment complex to score and take drugs and that they loiter around communal landings, right outside the residents’ doors.

“You can hear them out on the landings at night. You go out to the bins at night and you never know who you’re going to meet. One resident put up security cameras, but they were broken off the wall. This is getting dangerous – someone will get hurt,” continued Margaret.

“It’s bedlam here. You can’t stop worrying about what will happen next. The council try to look after the apartments, but it’s the owners of the buildings who are responsible for the maintenance of the communal areas and they’re impossible to contact. No-one would walk into our apartment block now.

“We’re the talk of the town. People call us scumbags; you can hear the people talking about us. These issues are relentless, they’ve been going on for years. There are periods when we can cope, but it’s never okay. And now it’s escalating … it feels like open season here now.

“My mental health is on the floor. This isn’t living, this is just surviving,” said Margaret.

Cllr Andy Gladney is trying to help the residents while also communicating with Carlow County Council. He said he’s working towards a resolution to the problems at Manor House and that the council’s tenants “need to be looked after”.

In response to a query from The Nationalist, the local authority replied: ‘Carlow County Council wishes to advise that it does not own the Manor House in Bagenalstown. The council leases a number of units within the building for social housing purposes. There are also privately rented units in the development. Responsibility for the overall building, including maintenance and repairs to common areas and shared access points, lies with the property owners.’