David Cassidy’s company supplied the lion’s share of building blocks in northeast Donegal when homes now hit by the mica debacle were built. It’s been nothing short of a nightmare for homeowners.
However, Cassidy is reeling from what he describes as a “very personal and sinister witch hunt” against his family circle and business.
“Trial by social media has had a devastating effect on our family,” he said in a statement to The Irish Times after declining an interview request.
He is managing director of Cassidy Brothers, the Buncrana company at the centre of the mica storm that has seen thousands of Donegal protesters take to the streets of Dublin and created a major political and financial headache for Government.
“Imagine driving your young child to school every day past posters stating ‘Cassidys wreck lives – boycott Cassidys’. What does one say to children when they ask why this is being done? What does one say to a child who is bullied and threatened at school just because they happen to have the surname Cassidy?
“Some of the actions and postings have whipped up a storm of hate against us and our extended families, and have further inflamed and aggravated the situation, heaping public disgrace on us in advance of any public inquiry and without awaiting independent and definitive findings in respect of the issues.”
The affair centres on homes in which the walls are crumbling because of failing blocks. A Government-appointed panel has said this was primarily due to excessive amounts of “deleterious material” in the form of muscovite mica in the aggregate used in the blocks. Micas are minerals that can absorb and store water, which can cause blocks to crack and crumble like sand. The panel found it was “not normal” for blocks to fail as they did, saying “standards existed” at the time for constituent materials and manufacturing.
For his part, Mr Cassidy takes issue with what he describes as “simplification” of the technical issues and blames a “failure in standards and guidance” before rules were strengthened in recent years. “If the regulations governing block production 25 years ago were what they are today, then this crisis would never have happened.”
We were buying Cassidy blocks because they were perceived to be best. They were the tried and trusted supplier
Cassidy Brothers is not the only company embroiled in the affair, but there has been a toll beyond the hit to the business. “We have had threats to burn our property and vehicles,” Mr Cassidy said.
“Posters have been erected around the areas in which we and our employees and families live encouraging a complete boycott of us and even calling for us to be shot. There have been repeated suggestions on social media that we should not be allowed to live in our own community.
“Over the course of recent months, gardaí have been made aware of a number of threats made and we have taken steps to increase our security as a result.”
Denouement
After months of argument, the mica saga is set reach some kind of a denouement within weeks when the Government finalises a new redress scheme for as many as 6,600 homeowners, mainly in Donegal and Mayo. There are signs similar aid may be required in Sligo, Limerick, Clare and Tipperary.
The question is before a crunch meeting next Tuesday of the Cabinet housing subcommittee – comprising Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Ministers Eamon Ryan, Paschal Donohoe, Michael McGrath and Darragh O’Brien – with proposals going at a later date to the wider Cabinet.
At issue still is whether the new scheme goes far enough to meet campaigners’ clamour for 100 per cent redress, improving the terms of an earlier scheme that many rejected. A Government working group has found the overall remediation cost to the exchequer, currently estimated at €1.4 billion, could rise by €1.8 billion to €3.2 billion if all homeowner demands are to be met.
That remains a huge sum, far beyond earlier projections, and one that will leave taxpayers on the hook. But there is anxiety in the Coalition that any failure to settle the matter definitively in Donegal could jeopardise the Dáil seats of Fianna Fáil minister Charlie McConalogue and former Fine Gael minister Joe McHugh.
For Cassidy Brothers, problems that first surfaced more than a decade ago have since besieged a business that has traded since 1940.
In an August letter to mica campaigners, Mr Cassidy said “it would be fair to say that the outlook for the company is very grim”. The company stopped making masonry blocks at plants in Buncrana and Letterkenny during the summer “due to loss of business”. More than 20 jobs were lost. The letter said the company sold block manufacturing machinery and other plant to fund redundancies.
Cassidy Brothers still has a precast concrete business in Buncrana, and a readymix concrete operation at Cranford. Recently, however, it faced enforcement action from Donegal County Council when 10-year planning permission at Cranford lapsed due to what the company described as an oversight. “We are actively and constructively engaging with the council to rectify the situation.”
Reaped rewards
Established 81 years ago by Edward and Sarah Cassidy, the business later came under the stewardship of their sons Seamus and Denis Cassidy. Like many of its sectoral counterparts, the company reaped rewards as building activity intensified in the Celtic Tiger era. Profits accumulated by Cassidy Brothers Concrete Products, the main entity in the business, grew to €6.68 million in 2007 from some €1.1 million in 1999.
David Cassidy, son of Denis, first received shares in January 2008, as did Natasha and Paul Cassidy, children of Seamus. David, Natasha and Paul are now the main shareholders. Although Natasha works alongside David in the business, Paul is not involved day-to-day.
Accounts filed in the Companies Office show shareholders in Cassidy Brothers Concrete Products and Cassidy Brothers Topmix, a related entity, received dividends totalling €1.77 million in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
In the August letter, 16 pages long, David Cassidy said the company “at all times manufactured all of our products, including masonry blocks, to the guidelines, regulations and standards set down by the government”.
But that cuts no ice with mica homeowners. “I don’t think anyone would believe their explanation for it,” said one Donegal figure. “Local builders would have bought the block in good faith thinking they were suitable for purpose.”
Another Donegal figure directly involved in the mica campaign said attitudes towards the company were marked by “anger and frustration” and people were unconvinced by Mr Cassidy’s letter. “That’s poor comfort to homeowners,” the campaigner said. “What they have done is try to hide behind what they call inadequate regulation.”
When times were good, the company dominated the local market. “We were buying Cassidy blocks because they were perceived to be best,” the campaigner said. “They were the tried and trusted supplier. They were extremely busy during Celtic Tiger times.”
Although the company has secured work from Donegal County Council, direct contracts with it do not appear to be a major part of the business. Records on Donegal County Council’s website show only three payments greater than €20,000 to Cassidy companies since mid-2012.
Planning enforcement
A company spokesman said the recent planning enforcement action at Cranford was “in no way related to masonry block production”.
We fully acknowledge that the primary victims in this are the property owners affected, and the appalling and difficult circumstances in which they find themselves
He added: “Cassidy Brothers is not facing and has never faced any enforcement actions regarding the manufacture of masonry blocks. We have held and continue to hold valid and current [National Standards Authority of Ireland] certifications for masonry blocks, and were inspected as recently as this week and April of this year.”
Although the business faces legal claims arising from the affair, it will not discuss them. “There are a number of separate proceedings in being and they are in the hands of our solicitors.”
Whatever ultimately happens, insurance will not cover the costs. “Cassidy Brothers can confirm that product liability insurance cover was and continues to be in place. We’ve been advised by our insurers that the policy did not cover the claims referred to in this instance,” the spokesman said.
At least before the mica problem erupted, Cassidy Brothers also appears to have had the confidence of other industry participants. “These guys never stood out for any reason prior to this,” said one person familiar with the sector.
David Cassidy himself was listed as a member of the technical committee of the Irish Concrete Federation (ICF), the main industry body, in each of six successive annual reports for the years 2014-2019. That committee is involved in developing industry standards and guidance, but the federation said in a statement that Mr Cassidy “has never participated in any ICF representation” on any committee of the National Standards Authority of Ireland, the State’s official standards body. “Mr Cassidy has not attended or played any part in the ICF technical committee since March 2016,” it said.
Right now, the federation is the least of Mr Cassidy’s concerns. “We are not trying to play the victim here,” his statement said. “We fully acknowledge that the primary victims in this are the property owners affected, and the appalling and difficult circumstances in which they find themselves.”
For all that, he said there had been no effort by politicians to stop “inflammatory, wrongful and dangerous remarks, or to even appeal for calm”.
