Backstory.ie

03/04/2025

The Defective Concrete Conference 2025 website has now been updated with the titles of each talk.

Ulster University is organising an international conference as part of its ‘Ulster Talks’ series to highlight ongoing research into the scientific causes of defective concrete failure, and the societal and mental health impacts of living with defective concrete.

02/04/2025

Below is a temporary link to the RSK Reports published in a form that can be more easily accessed using mobile devices.

This is a collection of research reports by RSK that investigated the causes of defective concrete in Donegal that were shared with the NSAI committee who did the revisions of I.S.465.

You can access the individual verbatim PDF reports here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GRzdI1Bhs2PgYalSYbfAG9jhYF9eBEXY?usp=sharing

These reports were published on the Geological Surveys Ireland website as a collection of files in .zip format.

This format is difficult to use on mobile devices, so the reports are temporarily posted here unzipped.

The GSI website for the .zip file is:
https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/events-and-news/news/Pages/Aggregates-Research-Findings.aspx

01/04/2025

Below is a link to the Ulster University Research Consortium Reports - This is a collection of research reports that investigated the causes of defective concrete in Donegal that were shared with the NSAI committee who did the revisions of I.S.465. You can access the reports here.

Shared in this format with the permission of Professor Paul Dunlop.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MOXvo8BXtSXNKgY2jZlxrjxW0HW6rlb-?usp=drive_link

30/03/2025

To all mum's out there - Happy Mothers' Day!

29/03/2025

Hey - LET'S GET LINKEDIN ON LINKEDIN!!!

I noticed some errors in last Sunday's live stream which aimed...

1) To show that EN 12620 is not fit for purpose when it comes to PYRITE damage to concrete blocks and requires changes for that standard to be of any real use.

NOTE: THERE IS NO CHANGE IN EN 12620 REQUIRED WHEN IT COMES TO PYRRHOTITE!

2) To highlight the evidence that a "new build" has been found to have been constructed with Defective Concrete.

I'm planning to redo last Sunday's live stream in multiple shorter segments starting on Sunday, 6th April, in 8 days' time - between 15 min and 30 min in length.

I'm expecting delivery of some equipment I just purchased that, hopefully, can help produce a better-quality live stream.

This tech gear is supposed to arrive on Thursday, 3rd April.

I will be changing the format of the live stream slightly to make it more understandable to non-homeowners who are in no way familiar with the Defective Concrete crisis.

The original live stream's primary target audience was people who already have good knowledge about the Defective Concrete crisis.

I'm currently rewriting the live stream voice-over in a manner that will (hopefully) make the content more accessible to members of the general public who may be unaware of the Defective Concrete crisis.

I'll be making a big push to share links to the live stream on LinkedIn.

I believe there is a professional audience on LinkedIn that could be interested in information regarding the Defective Concrete crisis that Backstory.ie publishes.

Normally, I hope people who might want to share the information I publish would consider describing the content I create as being

1) by Backstory.ie, or

2) by Grant March at Backstory.ie

It is not so useful to say

by Grant March

because the information is all on Backstory.ie's social media platforms.

If people go looking for "Grant March," they will only have to be redirected to Backstory.ie's social media platforms.

That being said, on LinkedIn, I can only share posts under my own name - Grant March.

I can't publish posts as Backstory.ie on LinkedIn.

If you'd like to be notified of posts I put out on LinkedIn, please consider "Making a LinkedIn Connection" with me at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantmarch/

If you are a homeowner, please mention that in the short message you can add to the LinkedIn connection request.

If you can do this, then when I post about the forthcoming shorter episode live stream series that I'm planning to start on Sunday, 6th April - hopefully, you will get notified of those posts and can help get the information more widely disseminated in the LinkedIn community.

If you can support Backstory.ie in this manner...

MANY THANKS TO YA!!! 🙏🙏🙏

Also... just to let you know...

I'm currently working on the Backstory.ie website behind the scenes.

I'm using some software that is new to me, so it's taking a little while to get it done.

The infrastructure behind the website is taking shape and I feel I've made good progress in recent times.

I do everything - even the website - in my one person media empire! ("media empire" - lol 🤣)

25/03/2025

Hi . I noticed a error in the live-stream about EN 12620 being not fit-for-purpose. So I've decided to delete it. But I plan to redo the live-stream and do it in three or four 30 minute sessions to make it more digestible. Sorry for the inconvenience.

23/03/2025

I found some other errors, so I've trimmed back the live-stream recording - essentially deleting it.

The technical details can be challenging.

I plan to try and confirm all the details before doing the live-stream again.

The next time round, I will split the live-stream up into several sessions that are more manageable in duration. I'm thinking 30 minutes each.

I will give an update again when I'm able to do the live-stream.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

This live-stream concerns a Petrolab report states that the EU Standard EN 12620 is not fit-for-purpose in the case of framboidal pyrite being the dominant iron sulphide in an aggregate.

18/03/2025

Here's a website I put together for the Defective Concrete Conference 2025 taking place in the An Grianan Hotel, Burt, Co. Donegal.

Ulster University is organising an international conference as part of its ‘Ulster Talks’ series to highlight ongoing research into the scientific causes of defective concrete failure, and the societal and mental health impacts of living with defective concrete.

03/03/2025

The Shannon Garda Station in County Clare, for which the OPW is responsible, was found to have pyrite damage in 2022.

Charles Ward, 100% RDR, recently asked the Minister responsible for OPW buildings, Kevin "Boxer" Moran...

"Will the OPW ensure that buildings it is responsible for in construction projects in County Donegal are using blocks that are free from deleterious materials, and has it checked existing buildings for the presence of these same materials?"

Minister Boxer Moran replied with...

"The OPW ensures the quality of the concrete blockwork used in all its building projects complies with the European standard for masonry blockwork. This requires that the manufacturer supply a certificate with each delivery of concrete blocks stating the date of manufacture and that the blocks comply with all the requirements of the standard. It includes a declaration of performance and a European certificate marking and is in accordance with the technical guidance documents."

However, note that the Declaration of Performance (or DOP) is a document that is wholly produced by the company that manufactures the building material, e.g., concrete blocks.

Mr. Richard Butler, from the Market Surveillance Office, said in a previous Oireachtas Housing Committee meeting that the DOP has no bearing on whether or not a concrete block can be said to be free of deleterious materials. Mr. Butler said...

"To clarify, as the Market Surveillance Office, we can only test for the essential characteristics declared under the DOP. Deleterious material is not part of the finished product in the block."

Deleterious materials are not supposed to be in the block, but obviously, they are in a disturbingly significant number of cases.

Minister Moran went on to say...

"The Deputy asked me about OPW buildings, and I am not aware of any. If the Deputy has knowledge of buildings that are showing signs, he should let me know and we will follow them up."

This is disingenuous on the part of the Minister, for a number of reasons.

1) Checking whether OPW buildings in Donegal or elsewhere in the country are affected is Minister Moran's responsibility, not Deputy Ward's responsibility.

2) The Minister can quite easily find out if any OPW buildings have defective concrete by simply asking his departmental staff to access the OPW's database of buildings and by sending out an inquiry via a group email.

3) Since the UK-based company Petrolab has identified 13 counties in Ireland where evidence of buildings containing deleterious materials has been found, it would be prudent for the Minister to undertake this task in the interest of safeguarding the health and safety of both the staff working in OPW buildings and the members of the public visiting OPW buildings.

4) Insurance companies may refuse to pay out for public liability or employer's liability claims if defective concrete is subsequently discovered in a building.

The CEO of Insurance Ireland, Ms Moyagh Murdock, has publicly stated that insurance providers will insure any remediated building that has been issued a remediation certificate by an engineer.

However, the Director General of Engineers Ireland, Mr. Damien Owens, has expressed concerns that the current remediation approach for residential buildings, as outlined in NSAI standard I.S. 465, permits the retention of defective concrete in interior walls when the remediation only involves some replacement of the inner/outer leaves of the exterior facing walls.

Furthermore, Mr. Owens has stated that the scheme is "not fit for purpose."

This indicates a clear inconsistency between the position of the Director General of Engineers Ireland and that of the CEO of Insurance Ireland.

5) By using the mitigating expression "not to my knowledge," Minister Moran introduces a degree of uncertainty or limitation to his knowledge, rather than making an absolute claim. Considering the seriousness of the effects of iron sulphides, this begs the question - what level of uncertainty is acceptable?

Deputy Joe Carey FG Clare asked the then Minister with responsibility for OPW buildings, Patrick O'Donovan FG Limerick, about an *unnamed* building in Clare that had pyrite damage.

Minister O'Donovan replied...

"A routine inspection earlier this year raised concerns in respect to cracking observed in the external façade. The OPW appointed external consultants to investigate the cause of this cracking and the consultant’s report has confirmed the presence of pyrite in the external leaf of the building."

It is logical to assume that the inner leaf walls and interior load-bearing walls, which may be supporting large concrete Bison slabs used as flooring, were constructed using the same concrete blocks as those used in the inner/outer leaves of exterior facing walls.

Backstoryie sent emails to Clare TDs Deputy Cathal Crowe FF, Deputy Joe Cooney FG and Deputy Timmy Dooley FF to try and find out what the unnamed building actually is.

Backstoryie is grateful to have learned fairly promptly from Deputy Cathal Crowe FF Clare, that the unnamed building in question is actually Shannon Garda Station.

Timmy Dooley FF (surprisingly) and Joe Cooney FG did not know what the unnamed building in their own county is. I informed them that Deputy Crowe has told me it is Shannon Garda Station.

An article in the Clare Champion from 2023, "Shannon Garda Station confirmed to have pyrite" by Fiona McGarry provides more context...

https://clarechampion.ie/shannon-garda-station-confirmed-to-have-pyrite/

Back in 2022, Minister O'Donovan went on to say...

"Further in-depth testing is currently underway to determine the extent of pyrite present. The OPW will assess the remediation options available, when the results of these additional investigations are complete."

Because the detected iron sulphide, pyrite, inevitably leads to the crumbling of affected concrete, Backstoryie has requested an update from Minister Moran as to whether the Minister was made aware of this fact by the civil servants in his department, whether or not any attempt at remediation was carried out, and what the current status of the Shannon Garda Station is today.

In the Clare Champion article, Deputy Crowe is quoted as suggesting that the Garda Station should relocate to some other building, probably because the Deputy is aware of the inevitability of an iron sulphide problem.

Deputy Cathal Crowe asked a Parliamentary Question about the OPW's plans to paint the Shannon Garda Station in 2023.

The same Minister of State O'Donovan replied...

"Works at Shannon Garda Station will be limited to necessary routine maintenance, with the proposed painting of the external façade on hold until further notice."

It could be considered a wasted expense to paint the building if the existing cracking is getting worse and new cracking keeps appearing.

Minister Kevin Boxer Moran should already be familiar with his role as Minister of State responsible for OPW buildings. Minister Moran held the same position back in the 32nd Dáil in the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar's, government.

Back then Deputy Moran shared the role with Deputy Seán Canney Ind of Galway East.

He was not elected as a TD in the previous 33rd Dáil.

Here is some other information about Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran:

The origin of his nickname "Boxer"...

According to journalist Conor Pope, writing in the Irish Times...

"Boxer Moran is used to fighting the big boys. When he was 12, Kevin Moran, as he was more commonly known then, decked an opponent on an Athlone football field because he felt a teammate had been wronged.

Although he was more than a foot shorter than the wrongdoer, he still slapped him. His coach could hardly condone such behaviour, but clearly viewed it benignly and gave him a new name. It just stuck."

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/boxer-moran-has-the-aura-of-a-champion-among-athlone-fans-1.2543326

An article by Christina Finn in the Journal.ie from 2017 titled...

'Boxer' Moran: 'Yes, I have difficulties with reading, but I am as clever a man as you will ever meet'
..she wrote...

"Moran spoke openly about how his struggles with dyslexia and depression led to a su***de attempt when he was a young man."

https://www.thejournal.ie/kevin-boxer-moran-interview-3423017-Jun2017/

That article includes Deputy Moran speaking of the challenges he has had to face with Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show.

Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran is Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDPDR).

Richard Butler is a Senior Executive Professional at the National Building Control Office (NBCO), National Market Surveillance Office (NMSO).

18/02/2025

The NSAI informed me that there WILL BE a "minimum of one month" for public consultation on the review of I.S. 465.

NOTE THE REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED YET!!!

But you can register to be able to comment now and be prepared to do so when the review is published for public consultation.

"One month" does not seem a sufficient time period to scrutinise a revised national standard, I.S. 465, that was originally published 7 years ago in 2018 and was deemed "not fit for purpose" for all that time by Engineers Ireland last year.

Note, however, that one month is the "minimum" period for public consultation. The period could end up being longer.

The NSAI website says that

"a draft of a fully revised 2nd edition of I.S. 465 for public consultation in Q1 2025"
https://www.nsai.ie/about/news/status-of-review-of-i.s-465-13th-december-2024/

That is the end of next month - the end of March.

A page titled "Comment on Draft Standards at Your Standards, Your Say" from the NSAI website explains how you can participate in the public consultation.
https://www.nsai.ie/standards/your-standards-your-say/

That in turn takes you to the NSAI's "Your Standards, Your Say" website where you can register to comment on the revised standard when the draft is published.

https://www.nsainep.ie/

UPDATE:

This same graphic has been posted on X and BlueSky as follows for those who might be on those platforms.

https://x.com/Backstoryie/status/1891923379176825178

https://bsky.app/profile/backstoryie.bsky.social/post/3lihwnbfnfk2p

13/02/2025

I'm a bit late to the party, but I just set up a Bluesky account and I'm looking for some Defective Concrete related accounts to follow there. Are any of Backstoryie's on BlueSky? Please let me know through FB Messenger or leave a comment. Thanks 🙏.

Bluesky is an alternative to X.com:
https://bsky.app/

30/01/2025

PLEASE CLICK IMAGE TO SEE FULL INFOGRAPHIC regarding the Irish Concrete Industry vs the Market Surveillance Office (MSO).

Does the MSO have enough staff? Please comment with your thoughts below.

The Market Surveillance Office is the body that deals with construction products, e.g., concrete blocks, before they are part of a building, i.e., a concrete block in the wall of a building.

The National Building Control Office (NBCO) is the body that deals with construction products after they are incorporated into a building.

The MSO only had 6 staff according to an Oireachtas Committee meeting in 2022.

In 2023, the Business Post reported that they’d seen documents showing that the state’s own building regulator (NBCO/MSO) believes it cannot adequately execute its function.

A few days after that, there was a fire in a Dublin apartment block in Blanchardstown. Seven units of the fire brigade fought the fire. Thirty-five apartments were damaged. Luckily, no one was injured.

Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell Tower apartment block when a fire broke out in a suburb of London in 2017.

The Construction Defects Alliance in Ireland has stated there could be up to 100,000 apartments that do not have proper protections to stop the spread of fire from apartment to apartment.

It was only after this that the staff of the MSO was increased from 6 to 12.

Note, however, that the same 12 staff also carry out functions for the NBCO — but that's for another post some other time. This post deals only with the Market Surveillance Office.

Here are the duties of the MSO...

Ensure sufficient resources are allocated for market surveillance

Ensure Dublin City Council appoints competent authorised officers who are experienced, trained for inspections/investigations, and have legal training for court testimony.

Lead, roll out, & coordinate the National Market Surveillance Strategy with local MSAs, National Competent Authorities, and technical experts (MSA = Market Surveillance Authorities, which are part of each Local Authority)

Investigate and follow up on non-compliance by economic operators (e.g., block/cement manufacturers), including enforcement actions if necessary

Liaise with and support local MSAs, conducting inspections, product testing, and enforcement

Lead market surveillance campaigns

Use the Information and Communication System on Market Surveillance (ICSMS) to record inspections and share information with other authorities

Respond to Revenue notifications about construction product consignments passing through Customs

Respond to Safety Gate Notifications (Market Surveillance alerts) from other Member States

Develop, maintain, and implement efficient business processes for Market Surveillance activities (e.g., planning, research, fieldwork, reporting)

Train local MSAs on Market Surveillance Guidelines, ICSMS, and regional up-skilling for authorised officers

Raise awareness and provide info on Construction Products Regulations (CPR) and Market Surveillance Regulation (MSR)

[ CPR stands for Construction Products Regulation. It is a European Union regulation that establishes harmonised rules for the marketing of construction products in the EU ]

[ MSR stands for Market Surveillance Regulation. This is an EU-wide framework that strengthens and modernises Market Surveillance activities, aiming to reduce non-compliant products in the internal market ]

Liaise with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, EU MSAs, Revenue, Customs, and other relevant authorities.

And after all that, are 12 staff enough for the MSO - given that they also have carry out duties for the NBCO. Please comment your thoughts on this below.

25/01/2025

NOTE: THE LINK TO CLICK FOR THIS GOOGLE SHEET DOC IS SHARED IN THE TEXT BELOW.
As it is being decided who the new members of Seanad Éireann will be, with many incumbent Senators looking to get into their Seanad seats again, it might be interesting to see which Senators voted for and against the...Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022

It will also be interesting to see which Senators were absent as so did not cast a vote.

Please see this Google Sheet spreadsheet. Although this link might prompt for the Google Sheet app, you should be able to preview it in a Browser or preview it in the Facebook app. Please let me know if this does not open for you.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SFhD6ZZKNaqUkIITEnHlOXUd055N7lXwILzCa5gnfXA/edit?usp=sharing

24/01/2025

Backstoryie thought it might be useful to see if the new Housing Minister, James Browne, has previously spoken of the Defective Concrete issue.

This could provide some insight into how he might approach the critical issue of Defective Concrete and about how me might approach homeowners going forward.

In a 2022 debate about Defective Apartments, Minister Browne made a one sentence reference to "Defective Concrete Blocks". This was the only time Deputy Browne mentioned Defective Concrete in the Oireachtas.ie archives.

Could Minister Browne's stint in the Department of Housing make a difference?

As a Fianna Fáil TD will he be any different to his colleague, the former Minister Darragh O'Brien?

Does what the Deputy said 3 years ago say anything about how he may treat homeowners going forward?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

23/01/2025

In a LinkedIn video post from 3 months ago, the new Minister for Housing - Mr James Browne - raised concerns about the distress fireworks cause for the elderly, vulnerable, and animals during Halloween. He spoke of "serious penalties that can be imposed, with fines of up to €10,000 and 5 years’ imprisonment applying for having fireworks in your possession with intent to sell or supply."

It would be logical for the Minister to be even more concerned for the 10,000 homeowners, including the elderly and vulnerable, living in crumbling homes who not sure if their cracked internal walls will continue to the support huge concrete bison slabs that make up the first floor's of many homes.

Note that the head of the Donegal Steering Committee on Defective Concrete said that he believed there were 10,000 homes affected in Inishowen, a peninsula, of Donegal alone. See this 42m20s into this UpSet in Concrete Podcast by Backstoryie
https://upsetinconcrete.backstory.ie/e/5-donegal-county-councillors-protest-outside-the-dail/

To read the full post see LinkedIn below:

I was delighted to be invited to launch the nationwide awareness raising campaign to warn against the serious danger posed by illegal fireworks and the strict penalties for their misuse. I did this in collaboration with An Garda Síochána, Foróige the ISPCA, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, and Dub...

23/01/2025

Deputy Charles Ward TD - 100% Redress Party - addresses the Dáil during the election of the Taoiseach of the 34th Dáil.

23/01/2025

New Minister for Housing's experience and education on LinkedIn - James Browne Fianna Fáil TD for Wexford