Taking to X this week, Dublin woman Ellen Blehein detailed the damage done to her beloved Inchicore property, pleading with the council to help save not only her home, but the local area from increased flooding.
She branded the matter a "public safety emergency," as she shared images and videos of the ongoing issue.
"The Camac River wall has collapsed in Inchicore and caused catastrophic damage to my home. DCC [Dublin City Council] and the OPW [Office of Public Works] must repair the river wall before our home is washed away. Please contact me urgently," she wrote, showing shocking images of her home.
"A supporting beam under the bridge has collapsed as is causing a serious flood risk to Inchicore," she added, explaining that further damage could be done within the area if swift action isn’t taken.
@opwireland @Paschald @DubCityCouncil @kodonnellLK a supporting beam under the bridge has collapsed as is causing a serious flood risk to Inchicore pic.twitter.com/LoDoXRnU40
— Ellen Blehein (@mikeshapellen) January 5, 2025
Speaking to Extra.ie, Ellen opened up about the emotional turmoil she and her partner have faced as a result of the ongoing issue.
"Truly, it’s been really tough, this has probably been the longest four days now of my life," she began.
"It’s our home. We love it. We don’t come from, I suppose, wealthy backgrounds, we saved for a long time. We reviewed properties, I say we reviewed well over a hundred properties before we had agreed on this house, and we love this house."
Just three months into married life, Ellen has revealed that she and her partner will be forced out of their home and will need to live separately with family and friends due to the safety hazard posed by the damage.
"It is heartbreaking, we’re gonna have to get rid of a lot of our belongings and essentially move out for a long time and have to live between different houses," she stressed.
"We’re only married less than three months, but we’ll probably have to split for a time as well because we don’t want to put too much burden on our family members. We don’t really know where we stand right now. We’re just taking it day by day."
"So at the minute, we’re kind of at the house during the day, but at night we can’t sleep here. We’re too scared, to be honest. On Sunday night, we heard lots of cracking, and we thought the conservatory was going to collapse into the river, it’s just really scary to be honest. But, we love our home, and we don’t want to have to leave."
Due to the confusion surrounding the ownership of the river wall, Ellen and her partner have been left in limbo regarding repairs and who the responsibility lies with.
While they’re deeply concerned for their own property, they are also increasingly worried for their local community, with the impending poor weather posing rising water levels and the risk of flooding.
"As it stands, that structure is at a very real risk of collapsing, and a lot of people in the local area are really concerned of flooding, because if that does collapse, which it has done before, there’ll be a lot of homes that are kind of in a similar state to ours, potentially."
Touching on the response from the council, Ellen added; "What they’re saying is that we own the river wall and we’re responsible for the maintenance of it.
"And if that is the case, then there should be a lot more awareness around that, because I know that there are a lot of other people in the local area and all over the country that live in homes, that their property touches the river wall and they maybe don’t know that they’re responsible for the maintenance of that.
"The property management company I spoke to there a few minutes ago, they weren’t aware of that either, and they have lots of properties that would have a boundary on a river wall as well."
Following advice from those closest to them, Ellen and her partner have set up a GoFundMe page, looking to use the funds raised to save what is left of their property, and reinforce it for the future.
You can read more about Ellen and Rob’s story and donate to her fundraiser here.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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