Temporary 24/7 security at Patrick Street social housing complex

A housing association has instated 24/7 on-site security at a city centre social housing complex in Derry.

The round the clock security measures were initiated by Ballymoney-based Triangle Housing Association, at its social housing complex in Derry’s Patrick Street.

The complex was recently at the centre of protests, at the City Centre Initiative office in Waterloo Place, about the escalating anti-social behaviour in and around the building. 

Alcohol abandoned at Triangle's Patrick Street accommodation.

The 24/7 on-site security will be in place until 5.00am on Thursday, October 12, 2023. From then on, the on-site security will cover the period 12.00pm to 5.00am.

Triangle will review the adequacy of this cover both in timing and efficiency over the coming days and is also investigating other options of effective cover into the future, Derry News understands, as well as rigorously implementing its anti-social behaviour procedures. 

Speaking to Derry Now, Caitlin McCloskey, a resident in the complex who is seven months pregnant, said she had moved in on a Friday and “the halls were disgusting”.

She added: “There was faeces on the floor. There were blood stains up the walls. There was vomit and food thrown out the windows. The windows were all streaked. 

Suspected drugs paraphernalia in the lift of Triangle's Patrick Street accomodation.

“All night there was partying and loud music. Now, I gave them the benefit of the doubt because it was the weekend. I thought, ‘I’ll only have to deal with this today and then hopefully it will be over’. 

“But the partying never stopped. It was 24/7. There was fighting. There were drugs all over the building. There was blood all spit up the lift. It was constant anti-social behaviour.

“We rang the police a couple of times. The last time I rang the police was early on Wednesday morning (October 4) and the police officer accused us of making ‘malicious calls’. They said every time they had visited the flats, there had not been any anti-social behaviour, said Caitlin.

Caitlin also said Triangle was no help at all. 

She added: “It said our reports didn’t match its reports but it had no security in the building, so there is no way it would have any reports anyway. 

“My health is being badly impacted by the anti-social behaviour. I can never sleep and when I first moved in, it took Triangle five days to put my heating in because the boiler was capped. The engineer sent out to fix the boiler said we should not have been given the key to move in until Triangle checked whether or not the boiler was capped or not. Capped means the boiler is turned off from the outside. 

“When I reported everything to Triangle, it said its ‘duty of care’ to me was done once it put a roof over my head. 

“I just feel so defeated. I am obviously thankful that Cllr Donnelly was trying to get the situation sorted. The police were making us feel as if we were the ones who were in the wrong and we were going out of our way to make complaints. I also think Triangle just wiped its hands off us as soon as we moved in. Talking to other residents, it seems this has been going on for years,” said Caitlin.

Caitlin said the tenants were trying to get a meeting with the CEO of Triangle to discuss their concerns. 

A spokesperson for Triangle Housing Association stated: “The Association is aware of issues relating to anti-social behaviour in and around the development at Patrick Street in Derry.  

“Senior staff members from Triangle recently met with a local elected representative for the area, the PSNI and the City Centre Initiative to discuss tenant and local community safety.  

“Security arrangements at the block have subsequently been increased.  

“The Association is proactively managing anti-social behaviour at the block and remains committed to working collaboratively with tenants, the PSNI, and other key stakeholders to improve community safety within the vicinity of its development, and the wider area,” said the Triangle spokesperson.

A second person involved in the recent protests about the anti-social behaviour at the complex told this newspaper they could no longer cope with the “amount of trouble” that was coming from it. 

“There is a definite fear factor,” they said. “These apartments opened about two years ago and the problems began straight away. 

“There have been numerous meetings with Triangle but it says it can’t choose what tenants go into its apartments. It has to take whoever is top of the Housing Executive’s list, regardless of their background or criminal record or anything else. 

“The situation was so bad at the start, Triangle put security in 24/7. It took a while but eventually a few of the residents who were causing major problems were weeded out and the situation did slightly calm down.

“We are talking about everything from boys out in the street with hammers and hatchets at 7 o’clock in the morning, throwing them up at the windows of the apartments, to major fights in the street, to cars and vans pulling up at all hours of the night, to police, ambulance and fire service there basically three or four times a day at the start,” they said.

The person said at one of the meetings with Triangle, the association said it was building similar accommodation in Belfast, which was going to have full-time security because “lessons had been learned in Derry”.

“That was really galling. How can Triangle find a budget for security in Belfast but it can’t find it for security in Derry?”

Derry News also sought comment from the City Centre Initiative and the PSNI.