Homeowners with properties affected by the defective block scandal have been enduring a living nightmare for more than a decade now. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme and the expertise of contractors like McConnell Construction in Castlefinn, County Donegal, fronted by vastly-experienced and conscientious civil engineer Rory McConnell.
Mostly affecting Donegal, but also impacting properties in counties Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Limerick, the defective block crisis has been nothing short of a disaster for home owners whose properties have cracked, crumbled and surrendered their structural integrity as a consequence.
For more and more homeowners, the nightmare is slowly coming to an end. A fully-registered and -insured civil engineer, bringing vast experience of all aspects of construction to bear on a magnificent portfolio of high-quality new builds, extensions and refurbishments, Rory McConnell of McConnell Construction in Castlefinn dedicates most of his time these days to demolishing and rebuilding homes compromised by one of the biggest scandals ever to rock the Irish construction industry.
Rory is synonymous with the consistent delivery of high-quality craftsmanship on every project undertaken and he derives tremendous personal satisfaction from being able to turn things around and make people’s dreams come true, helping them reach the end of a long and arduous ordeal:
“That’s ultimately our goal and people are absolutely delighted to see their new homes taking shape,” he confirms. “Some can get very emotional when you knock their home down, but they soon come around when they see progress being made on the new building and they can’t wait to get back in and put it all behind them.”
Possessing the engineering excellence and building talent to get the job done to the highest-possible standard, invariably exceeding client expectations, McConnell Construction is completely committed to this very exclusive and specialist area of work.
“Our work at the minute is almost exclusively the defective block scheme in Donegal,” Rory reveals. “It’s only really kicked off this year and that’s what we are at on a daily basis. At present, we are taking down and rebuilding 12 houses and are at various stages on each of those projects.
“It’s a pure mess for the people affected and your heart goes out to them. We can come in and sort it out for them, and that’s a responsibility and opportunity we’re taking very seriously. They are out of their houses for a year while the work is going on, and that takes a bit of organising on their behalf, but at the end of it we’ll hand them over a top-quality A-rated home that will be a vast improvement on the crumbling one they left behind.”
While there remain different levels of grants available for different kinds of remedial interventions under the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme which was introduced in October, looking at the situation from an engineering perspective, Rory believes that the only appropriate solution is to demolish and rebuild the affected properties. As such, he won’t entertain putting his name to any other approach, such as working on the outer leaf only.
“We won’t do only the outside skin or layer. They have the science to say it works, apparently, but it doesn’t make sense to me. We have built up a good reputation with homeowners and engineers involved in the scheme and the phone is ringing steadily. We’re going to be doing a lot more of this going forward.
“Another obvious shortcoming of the scheme is that smaller houses get less money and they don’t get enough to make the work viable. A smaller home will still need all the essentials a bigger house needs but this isn’t allowed for. The way things are at the minute, I find that working on larger homes works better for me than a home of say, 1,000 sq ft.
“But this is all new for everybody and we are all learning as we go along. At the moment, the scheme is working for some but not working for everybody and a lot of people are in a very bad situation. But we try to help them any way we can. Then, there’s the fact that some of the homes affected are semi-detached, and that’s a mess, too…”
Regarding the status of the first houses he is working on as part of the remediation scheme, Rory reveals: “We’re just coming towards the end of the first one as we speak. They are all at different stages of completion and they’re all quite close to Castlefinn, within 20 minutes of my home, which is good. You can get through more if you keep them close to hand.”
A tried and trusted team of skilled subcontracted tradesmen is used to make sure that all work is delivered to industry-leading levels. “First, you have to knock down and take the old house away. After that, you are building a brand-new house. They’re all done to A-rated standard, with underfloor heating upstairs and downstairs, air-to-water heat pumps and solar panels [as they automatically qualify for the SEAI grant].
“When you take the old house down, everything has to be separated and taken away for recycling. It all has to be disposed of properly and it’s very difficult to save anything from the original house. We’ll do the best we can but it’s generally not practical from a cost point of view to try to salvage anything. They are getting a brand-new house and that’s the least they deserve after everything they have gone through. Some of these people are still paying off a mortgage on the original defective house and are also paying rent while the new one is being built – it’s tough.”
After enjoying a spell as a civil engineer in Australia, Rory returned home to Ireland in 2015 and worked in Dublin for the next five years, but due to personal circumstances has since operated exclusively in Donegal. The defective block scheme accounts for 90 per cent of his workload these days.
“This is what we’ll keep doing,” he predicts. “If I can stick to one thing and focus fully on it, then everybody will know what they are doing and we can get more done. There are thousands of houses waiting to be done. It’s a real mess. We are taking on the cleanest approach, doing individual houses out on their own in the countryside. It’s a lot more straightforward than doing the outer layer or office blocks, commercial premises or semi-detached houses.
“My focus will be on taking on houses over 2,000 sq ft, that are getting the maximum grant and out on their own in the countryside with lots of space around them.”
While Rory is providing an invaluable service to people who really need it, he concludes by pointing out that McConnell Construction would not exist without the support of his family and those around him. “I get unbelievable help from the people around me and am forever grateful.
“My partner Karen is a schoolteacher and has just taken a career break to help me and our son Noah. My father Declan and mother Breda are also a huge help, while Karen’s dad is a plasterer and her mother also helps us a lot. It’s a big family team effort and I’d be lost without them.”
McConnell Construction Ltd.,
Castlefinn,
County Donegal.
Tel: 087 4406869
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mcconnellconstructionltd.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, March 2025, Vol 11 No 3
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