'It has torn our lives apart, brick by brick’ - Limerick family's pyrite plight

FIFTH year student Liam Power’s “worries” should include his Leaving Cert next year, fate of the Limerick hurlers and if the soccer team he supports won at the weekend but he has a much bigger concern - living in a house affected by defective blocks.

He contacted Limerick Live to give insight into the financial impact and stress of purchasing a house built with blocks containing pyrite. The Powers bought the house - built in the early 90s - in Bruree in 2004.

Shortly before writing an article the 17-year-old took a stroll around the perimeter of his family’s home where he has lived his entire life. 

“I observed the ominous, sprawling cracks, spanning across the walls. The effects of the defective blocks were starkly evident upon the gable wall, which has now become a patchwork of interwoven fissures and ruptures throughout the blockwork. Even inside the house, various menacing splits in the walls are plain to see.

"As someone living in this place, it can sometimes feel threatening and foreboding,” said Liam.

READ NEXT: Record number of Limerick homes install solar panels as SEAI grants surge in 2025

His parents Kieran and Nessa first noticed cracks appearing over a decade ago, but at the time dismissed them as some minor structural issues. 

“However, the condition of the walls continued to deteriorate, with more and more signs of decay appearing. We had seen the huge crisis enveloping people in Donegal with mica on the news, lives and livelihoods destroyed because of houses built with defective blocks.

"My parents began to worry about what they could do, feeling helpless as all around them everything they had ever strived towards and worked for was literally beginning to crumble. There was a provisional scheme in place for people living in houses affected by defective concrete, but, at the time, it was not available in County Limerick,” said Liam, who has a younger brother, Senan.

Then, in July 2023, the government created the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme which was gradually rolled out to counties Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo. On hearing this news, the Powers sought advice on the best course of action. 

 In early 2024, a team of engineers came to the house and took samples of concrete from the walls and foundation.  Tests confirmed both sets of walls contained pyrite, the mineral associated with defective blocks.

 “In effect, this was a condemnation to death for our home, as the pyrite would continue to cause deterioration over time and eventually render it uninhabitable. 

“In other words, all the time, money and resources my parents had painstakingly poured into making our house a home, was for nothing. As a teenager, this is a tough thing to hear about your childhood home, but I cannot begin to fathom the effect this information had on my parents. The only reasonable course of action you might think, therefore, would be to demolish and start anew.”

However, being on the scheme is not as straightforward as that, said Liam.

The teenager describes it as “a draining and drawn-out process with layer upon layer of red tape to be arduously cut through”. 

The scheme has a number of options for remediation. Liam says option one is a full and comprehensive demolition and rebuild. Option two is a partial demolition, with only the external walls being torn down, which the Powers were approved for.  

“Even to someone not qualified as a structural engineer, this option seems unfeasible and, quite frankly, daft. Firstly, the ordeal the construction workers would have to go through in just demolishing the external walls and then somehow trying to knit the new external walls back into the inner walls is insurmountable. 

“Secondly, and more pressingly, the cracks on the inner wall will inevitably worsen, meaning somewhere down the line we would have to re-apply to the scheme and tear everything down again.

"So naturally, my parents, along with the consultation of an engineer, filed an appeal to get the remediation upgraded to a full demolition and rebuild. They submitted the appeal in late 2024. In actuality, I strongly and fervently believe that everyone affected by this ordeal, should be entitled to a full redress.”

Liam says the scheme leaves most of the responsibility on the affected party, causing considerable mental and financial strain. 

“For instance, all hiring and management of professionals such as architects, engineers, builders and tradesmen, is completely tasked with my parents.

“If that was not stress-inducing enough, there is minimal to no support given to assist finding alternative accommodation and suitable storage for possessions while the demolition and rebuilding process is underway. 

“My parents recently procured a mobile home (pictured below) in advance of this mammoth project. As a fifth-year student facing tearing up roots and moving into much more cramped living quarters midway through my preparation for the Leaving Cert, is a daunting prospect to say the least.”

He concludes by saying there may be light at the end of the tunnel. 

“We have already come a long way through the process and are cautiously optimistic that we will have a response from the appeal some time in 2026. 

“By the end, I hope my family and I will be able to sit back in our brand new home, happy to have made it through this turbulent chapter. 

“A chapter that has torn our lives apart, brick by brick.”