A family of five has been living in a local authority house without hot water, black mould across the ceilings and walls and condensation so bad it drips onto beds.

Keeley Burkey (pictured) and her four children were ecstatic when they were told by Galway County Council in December 2021 they would be allocated a three-bedroom house after 16 years on the waiting list.

It took until the following August to carry out repairs to the house in Tullyvoheen, Clifden. But almost immediately after they moved in, that delight turned to horror.

“I don’t know what they spent eight months doing – they must have just painted over everything. A week after we moved in there was black mould everywhere on the ceiling and walls, condensation running down the walls. I wake up every morning with my bed covers wet with dampness,” exclaims Keeley.

“As much as you wipe it off the mould with bleach and vinegar, it comes back within 24 hours. My new floors that I got put down when I moved in are now lifting. My bedroom is beneath the upstairs bathroom and anytime someone has a shower it leaks down into my room.

“There has never been any hot water in the house to wash dishes. Cupboards are wet with condensation and it’s making my food go bad.

“The vents in the rooms are all leaking water. The Council blocked up the fireplace and left a massive draft coming from the chimney breast. The heating doesn’t work properly – I have to bleed radiators every time I put on the heating, I have old style single radiators that doesn’t warm the rooms unless you’re standing beside them.”

There are leaks in the downstairs toilet, which creates a shocking smell, and another in the hallway and also in the main bathroom where the bath plug doesn’t line up with the waste pipe which results in the bath filling when showering and leaking into the downstairs bedroom.

This is a shortened preview version of the story. For more, see this week’s Connacht Tribune.