The new Galway city manager, Mr Joe McGrath, has recommended an immediate review of the local authority's anti-social behaviour and tenant transfer policies in light of the Ms Bríd Cummins eviction case.
Mr McGrath made his recommendations in documents circulated to Galway city councillors relating to the local authority's handling of the controversial matter. Ms Cummins (48), originally from Co Tipperary, was found dead in her council flat last December on the day she was due to be evicted by the local authority.
The precise cause of death has not been established, pending toxicology reports, but gardaí have ruled out foul play. Ms Cummins's family, her solicitor, and the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Catherine Connolly, have all sought an independent inquiry into the local authority's dealings with her, and its direction to an independent organisation for the homeless not to assist Ms Cummins if she presented herself to it.
The latest round of documentation, which is on the agenda for Monday's Galway City Council meeting, revealed that representations were made as far back as late 1999 on Ms Cummins's behalf to the city council by a number of public representatives, officials and medical professionals.
These included the former minister of state for the environment, Mr Bobby Molloy, Fianna Fáil senator Margaret Cox, current Mayor, Ms Catherine Connolly (Lab), a Western Health Board official, two priests, and two doctors.
The information is contained in answers to some 209 questions filed by city councillors on the case, with a covering letter by Mr McGrath.This latest report was compiled by the local authority when its previous report into the case, published last January, was found to be unsatisfactory by several councillors.
The representations made by Mr Molloy and others related to difficulties which Ms Cummins was experiencing with her neighbours, maintenance issues, and the need for a transfer to more suitable accommodation.
The file confirms that Ms Cummins, who had a disability and medical difficulties, had first applied for a transfer from her accommodation in January 2000, due to noisy and disruptive behaviour by a neighbour.
Mediation took place between Ms Cummins and the upstairs tenant, and the tenant was granted a transfer in December, 2002. However, Ms Cummins's own appeals were turned down, and she initiated legal action against the city council in July, 2003.
The city council then decided to take eviction proceedings against Ms Cummins on the grounds of anti-social behaviour, as reported by a neighbour from June, 2003.
In the new report, the council defended its decision not to grant a transfer, and said Ms Cummins was on record as saying she would be happy to stay once the upstairs tenant had been moved. It also acknowledged that Ms Cummins repeated her transfer request in subsequent correspondence.
The city council said it sought the eviction order because of allegations of assault and its belief that Ms Cummins posed a substantial risk to the physical welfare of immediate neighbours.
It said that gardaí were contacted in June 2004 by a senior social worker, who advised that the relevant neighbour wished to make a statement.
A second communication with the gardaí was made by Galway City Council directly in September 2004, on the grounds that the neighbour was "unable to make a formal statement to the gardaí due to the level of stress the family was experiencing at the time".
During an appeal against her eviction last November, Ms Cummins denied the allegations made against her by Ms Nora Walsh (67), of Munster Avenue.
Ms Cummins's sister, Ms Angela Harte, said yesterday that she had not seen the report.
