Donegal councillor makes call over defective concrete blocks

A Donegal County councillor who is facing the prospect of having to demolish and rebuild his home as a result of defective blocks and concrete, has called for the Attorney General here to take action against the Irish Government.

Cllr Frank McBrearty (Independent) said: “The Attorney general for Northern Ireland should be recommending legal action be taken against the Irish Government for allowing defective blocks and concrete to be sold across the border, from Donegal into the Six Counties.

“Once the Northern Ireland authorities finish a transparent and complete investigation into the failure of manufacturers in the Republic of Ireland to adhere to Irish and EU standards regarding the concrete and concrete products sold into Britain and beyond, the Attorney General needs to determine what legal options can be taken to obtain redress.”

Cllr McBrearty also cautioned homeowners in Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh against what he described as the “mica myth” which has been used by the Irish Government in an attempt to deal with the crumbling homes and properties in Donegal.

Internal sulphate attack.

He said: “Donegal is not a mica issue even though mica is present in the  concrete blocks and in the foundations because all the quarries on the island of Ireland have mica. The issue is that a proper investigation was never conducted in Donegal into the real cause of the structural damage that we see in the county today. 

“The dogs in the street know that concrete blocks were sold across the border, in Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh and maybe even further afield. The people and the authorities in Northern Ireland must not make the same mistakes as the Irish authorities have deliberately done by singling this out as a mica issue.

“Mica is not the problem in Donegal. The evidence of this has been published by Professor Paul Dunlop from Ulster University, who is actually a Derry man, and Dr Andreas Leemann from EMPA in Switzerland and the other leading world experts in the field of defective concrete. 

“Reactive iron sulphate minerals are the predominant issue showing up in the Petrolab test results and in particular in my father’s results and the results of two sets of cousins of mine. My father also has a foundation result proving that mica is not the cause of the problem,” said Cllr McBrearty.

Cllr McBrearty warned that the issues facing home and property owners were “progressive”.

He added: “The longer this goes on, the worse the blocks and the foundations will become over time. The reactive iron sulphide minerals that are now in this peer reviewed study by Professor Dunlop and his colleagues, clearly show that the mica narrative used in Donegal has hidden the real truth and facts of what is actually happening here.

“I believe, from properties that I have seen in Derry and Tyrone, Castlederg and other places, they are affected by the same issues as in Donegal.

“But you can’t prove what is wrong with a property until you fully scientifically test for all deleterious materials and all iron sulphate minerals. And that is where the core of this lies, where the mistakes were made in Donegal and today the narrative the Irish Government is still spinning is mica when it is not mica is the problem.

“We estimate there are more than 50,000 properties in Donegal affected. But, mica is not a reactive mineral. It does not cause cracking, swelling or the eventual crumbling of a concrete block or a concrete foundation. Reactive iron sulphide minerals cause the cracking and the swelling that we see in Donegal today,” said Cllr McBrearty.

Cllr McBrearty added that Dr Ambrose McCloskey, a chartered engineer from Dungiven, and the McBrearty family’s engineer, Kieran Coyle, from Albert Fry Associates, and himself had been highlighting the issue of reactive iron sulphates for the past two years.

He added: “What we have been saying was completely ignored and is still being ignored even though Professor Dunlop and his colleagues have published their study. In my opinion it is a huge cover up.

“The Northern Ireland authorities today must take 10 samples in Derry, 10 samples in Strabane, County Tyrone and 10 samples in County Fermanagh and they need to do a proper investigation to source where the blocks came from, where they can visually see there are problems.

But, most importantly, they must test for all deleterious materials and reactive iron sulphide minerals that are suspected to be in the concrete blocks that is causing the cracking and swelling in homes in Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh, possibly further afield, right access the Six Counties, that were sold across the border.

“And when they have that identified, they must then investigate where these blocks came from because I believe they came from Donegal and we have evidence to show that some of these properties did buy purchase blocks from Donegal with CE certified stamps on them saying they were for for purpose when they weren’t actually fit for purpose at all,” said Cllr McBrearty.

He added that the two Derry engineers he mentioned could help the local authorities here, as a result of the experience they have gained working for clients in Donegal whose homes were destroyed by reactive iron sulphide minerals.

Cllr McBrearty said: “Since 2001, the industry in the 26 counties has been self-regulated. There was  no proper oversight or policing of industry so the industry was open to abusing what was actually put into the mixes for these concrete blocks and concrete foundations.

“However, in the UK, it is a regulated industry. We have seen first hand test results from properties sold in Donegal built with blocks from NI and those blocks are coming in three times stronger than the Donegal blocks that have tested defective. 

“In fairness to the tax payers in Northern Ireland, 30 properties should be tested at the expense of the local authority through Stormont, so they can start to build a proper database and identify the properties affected. Any products sold into Northern Ireland from Donegal, there is going to be a serious question mark over those products and the standards that were stamped on those products. Standards have not been adhered to by manufacturers and quarries in Donegal who have been selling products to Britain and EU. 

“Once the Northern Ireland authorities finish a transparent and complete investigation, the Attorney General of Northern Ireland needs determine what legal options can be taken to obtain redress.

“In my opinion, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland should be recommending legal action be taken against the Irish Government for allowing defective blocks and concrete to be sold across the border, from Donegal into the Six Counties.”