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What's wrong with the North Mall / Blarney St. Area ?

marcjacobs

Hi there
I moved to Ireland recently, I am sharing a house with people near UCC but I've been looking for a place to live closer to city center, viewed loads of (crappy) apartments. The ones I really liked are in this big yellow building right across the bridge where the Gate View cinema is. Everyone is telling me not to move there for different reasons. Mostly because apparently it's a sketchy area with scumbags and stuff. Is it really that bad ?
Is there anyone here who lived there / moved out or is currently living there and had bad experiences? It doesn't seem to be the safest place in Cork but the location would be perfect for me. I find it weird that there is so many places to let in the same building/ street.
Where should I consider moving if I want to be able to walk to Patrick Street in let's say 5-10 min?
Thanks !

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stevexo

sent you a pm there about a place

Dan Dare

There was a thread on the Cork forum asking about the Blarney Street area quite recently, the consensus seemed to be that it was not a great place at night. Don't know anything about the building on the North Mall.

marcjacobs

I found the thread but there was nothing there really.. Only 2-3 ppl replied "I would avoid it".

Dudess

Are you talking about the Pope's Quay apartments OP (the back of them faces onto Shandon Street)? The front of them has been painted so many times I can't even remember what colour they are now...

[Deleted User]

Basically you are close to the river, which is great however winos / alcoholics lke hanging out on the benches drinking. Also very close to some terrible pubs where lots of genuine scum drink and hangaround. If your male I wouldn't be too bothered but I don't think any female should be wandering around that area at night.

I haven't even mentioned all the drug activity in the area.

DamienH

Just take a walk up there friday and saturday night and see for yourself. Personally if I liked the place I'd go for it. Have a look yourself and make your own mind up. Drug use is all over the city aswell as are the winos so don't let that put you off.

[Deleted User]

Better off having a look on a non social night too, Friday and Saturday would probably make it look half normal.

star.chaser

con kahn told me once that it was a lovely area, a bit on the posh side

Dudess

The bottom of Shandon Street is a bit no-go all right at night - a tiny bit though, you'd be fine in a group.

pirateninja

I lived on North Mall last year and had absolutely no hassle. That said I wouldn't feel safe walking around there at night, the poor lighting doesn't help. It can be quite noisy at night especially from the pub at the corner of Shandon street and North Mall. I found I was more likely to be hassled on North Main Street than north mall.

Blarney street is dodgy enough. I definitely wouldn't be walking around there at night on my own or in a group!

Deliverance

marcjacobs wrote: »

Hi there
I moved to Ireland recently, I am sharing a house with people near UCC but I've been looking for a place to live closer to city center, viewed loads of (crappy) apartments. The ones I really liked are in this big yellow building right across the bridge where the Gate View cinema is. Everyone is telling me not to move there for different reasons. Mostly because apparently it's a sketchy area with scumbags and stuff. Is it really that bad ?
Is there anyone here who lived there / moved out or is currently living there and had bad experiences? It doesn't seem to be the safest place in Cork but the location would be perfect for me. I find it weird that there is so many places to let in the same building/ street.
Where should I consider moving if I want to be able to walk to Patrick Street in let's say 5-10 min?
Thanks !

If my memory serves me right... there was some kind of battle on that bridge with hurleys and slash-hooks awhile back wasn't there? I don't live in the area nor ever have. But it does have an air of menace about it for some reason.

Keep looking I would say. A bit of inconvenience of getting a bus into town from a decent place would be far better than the inconvenience of feeling insecure in an area that has no sense of community or niceness about it.

[Deleted User]

pirateninja wrote: »

from the pub at the corner of Shandon street and North Mall.

One of the most terrible places in the World :eek:

marcjacobs

Thanks for replying everyone, I found a really nice place (some friends moved out of their house, so we're gonna move there). I wouldn't feel safe in the area, being a woman, working until late at night (sometimes up to midnight)

Actually, there was a fire this morning ... I was walking to work and could see the black smoke and it looked like it was coming right from these apartments (North Mall) !!!! :eek: Maybe it was just because I was kinda far, but does anyone know where it was coming from ?

Faith

I hope it wasn't near the Franciscan Well anyway!

[Deleted User]

marcjacobs wrote: »

Thanks for replying everyone, I found a really nice place (some friends moved out of their house, so we're gonna move there). I wouldn't feel safe in the area, being a woman, working until late at night (sometimes up to midnight)

:eek: You should have told us that, I would have been more blunt about the place

NoDice

RoverJames wrote: »

Basically you are close to the river, which is great however winos / alcoholics lke hanging out on the benches drinking. Also very close to some terrible pubs where lots of genuine scum drink and hangaround. If your male I wouldn't be too bothered but I don't think any female should be wandering around that area at night.

I haven't even mentioned all the drug activity in the area.

I know you've found a place now but just in case someone searches this.

I actually live on the North Mall. I'm a 22 year old girl who sometimes has to walk home from the bus stop at 9pm - and tbh I'm always terrified once I hit North Main Street and have to pass Sebos (the pub on the corner by the north gate bridge). North Main street is dodge enough but the north mall is usually lined with homeless people or young people drinking. Most of them liek to shout things or call you over but I usually keep walking. We've had a few dodgy drunks/peeple off their heads on something banging at the door or hanging out at the window which the guards, despite them being right across the river, have done nothing about. We even had a guy who took off his clothes, fired the life saving rings into the river and jumping in front of traffic staring in our window (we're on the ground floor) and shouting abuse in (8pm on a tuesday night btw) and the guards said if he comes back they might send someone out.

I've found it dodgy and hope to move come July when our lease is up.

Of course not everyone gets hassled and once you don't draw anyone upon you then you should be fine but I for one will not be staying in this location again nor would I recommend it.

[Deleted User]

I really am a wealth of information

About your lease Ms Dice, you can leave anytime you like once you give a months notice and you will recieve your full deposit back. For some reason folks don't know that, I have a place up the country and the dudes living there asked for a clause in the lease that they could leave after 6 months and get their deposit back. I was like they can leave whenever they want if they give a months notice, letting agent dude was like, true, but they don't know that.

NoDice

RoverJames wrote: »

I really am a wealth of information

About your lease Ms Dice, you can leave anytime you like once you give a months notice and you will recieve your full deposit back. For some reason folks don't know that, I have a place up the country and the dudes living there asked for a clause in the lease that they could leave after 6 months and get their deposit back. I was like they can leave whenever they want if they give a months notice, letting agent dude was like, true, but they don't know that.

I know about the month's notice but the letting agent I'm with haven't been helpful at all regarding ALOT of issues with the apartment. I really don't want to get into a situation with them which would jeopardise a good letter of recommendation for a new landlord plus I'm happy to wait as things keep cropping up requiring money. :rolleyes: Thank you for the advice of course.

marcjacobs

NoDice wrote: »

I know you've found a place now but just in case someone searches this.

I actually live on the North Mall. I'm a 22 year old girl who sometimes has to walk home from the bus stop at 9pm - and tbh I'm always terrified once I hit North Main Street and have to pass Sebos (the pub on the corner by the north gate bridge). North Main street is dodge enough but the north mall is usually lined with homeless people or young people drinking. Most of them liek to shout things or call you over but I usually keep walking. We've had a few dodgy drunks/peeple off their heads on something banging at the door or hanging out at the window which the guards, despite them being right across the river, have done nothing about. We even had a guy who took off his clothes, fired the life saving rings into the river and jumping in front of traffic staring in our window (we're on the ground floor) and shouting abuse in (8pm on a tuesday night btw) and the guards said if he comes back they might send someone out.

I've found it dodgy and hope to move come July when our lease is up.

Of course not everyone gets hassled and once you don't draw anyone upon you then you should be fine but I for one will not be staying in this location again nor would I recommend it.

Thank you NoDice,
This is exactly the answer I was looking for (or wishing not to read..)
I found a place but it didn't work, I was still considering North Mall, but you just helped me to make up my mind. I will cross out the idea of moving there. I'll find another place. It's a shame cause the apartments are amazing but there is a reason why all these lovely places haven't been rented in a while.

FTGFOP

RoverJames wrote: »

About your lease Ms Dice, you can leave anytime you like once you give a months notice and you will recieve your full deposit back. For some reason folks don't know that, I have a place up the country and the dudes living there asked for a clause in the lease that they could leave after 6 months and get their deposit back. I was like they can leave whenever they want if they give a months notice, letting agent dude was like, true, but they don't know that.

Say what?! Is that true? If you sign a six-month lease aren't you liable for losses in rent to the landlord if you move out early?

If you quit at, say, three months and the landlord doesn't get a new tenant for two months after that don't then don't you owe him for those two months? Assuming the house was up to scratch and there were no other problems.

[Deleted User]

FTGFOP wrote: »

Say what?! Is that true? If you sign a six-month lease aren't you liable for losses in rent to the landlord if you move out early?

If you quit at, say, three months and the landlord doesn't get a new tenant for two months after that don't then don't you owe him for those two months? Assuming the house was up to scratch and there were no other problems.

Yes it's true, no your not liable. You have to give a months notice though if you want your deposit back though. A 12 month lease is effectively a load of arse

FTGFOP

RoverJames wrote: »

Yes it's true, no your not liable,[...]A 12 month lease is effectively a load of arse

Holy crap! I had no idea.
...
As for the North Mall, it's a bit of anomaly. We're talking about a quiet, tree-lined street that is, at the same time, only a couple of minutes walk from the dead centre of a city. All its buildings are south-facing and the other side of the street is a river bank. Oh, and there's a park at the western end of the street! Sounds idyllic!

It's a shame it's so poorly lit and a little dodgy after dark (going off the other posts in the thread). Something that doesn't help is both sides of the foot bridge area being quiet and dark at night. I think I'd live there happy enough, winos and all, if the rent was good and the place was nice (Bonus: your local is the Franciscan Well). If I was walking home late at night like the OP I'd be less keen, however.

There's a lot of bafflingly empty and/or dilapidated buildings around the city centre area. The whole place could do with sprucing-up. The North Mall's not even too bad in this regard, but you can go right into town and see buildings in awful states if you look above shop level.

Lemag

RoverJames wrote: »

Yes it's true, no your not liable. You have to give a months notice though if you want your deposit back though. A 12 month lease is effectively a load of arse

What if, as is the case with my 12 month lease, there's a clause stating the forfeiture of the deposit if the full 12 months are not seen out irrespective of a full months notice being given?

[Deleted User]

Lemag wrote: »

What if, as is the case with my 12 month lease, there's a clause stating the forfeiture of the deposit if the full 12 months are not seen out irrespective of a full months notice being given?

You then contact the PRTB (which by law your landlord has registered the tenancy with) and you get a response from them which you pass on to your landlord. The mere mention of this will have the landlord on the staight and narrow very quickly.Tenants and landlords have certain rights, clauses in leases are a load of arse

http://www.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Terminating_Tenancy.doc

3. Termination of a Tenancy by the Tenant

Valid notice
A valid notice of termination must:
· Be in writing
· Be signed by the tenant
· Specify the date of service
· Specify the termination date (the tenant has the whole of the 24 hours of this date to vacate possession)
· State that any issue as to the validity of the notice or the right of the tenant to serve it must be referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board within 28 days from the receipt of the notice.

Notice period may be longer than a month if you've been there a while, not too long though

Notice Period Duration of Tenancy
28 days Less than 6 months
35 days 6 months or more but less than 1 year
42 days 1 year or more but less than 2 years
56 days 2 years or more

robbeardsley

Blarney Street is quite dodgy. Used to hang around there a few years ago so I've no problem walking on my own. But I can see how it would make people uneasy. Way too many dodgy pubs in the area.

clitusclark

RoverJames wrote: »

Yes it's true, no your not liable. You have to give a months notice though if you want your deposit back though. A 12 month lease is effectively a load of arse

Has this situation ever occurred with one of your tenants RoverJames or are you just basing this on what you've read on the PRTB website?

I was of the same opinion as yourself on this one until I actually got involved with the PRTB after a landlady withheld a portion of my deposit on the basis that I hadn't fulfilled the full term of the lease agreement.

I had been living in the house for ten months when the situation arose where I had to move to the UK, so gave my month's notice (more actually), which the landlady accepted. When it came down to returning the deposit she refused. I kicked up a fuss and she agreed to give about half back as a goodwill gesture. I wasn't happy with that and having read info from the PRTB I thought I had a pretty solid case. I sent a couple of emails to them, and a few days later I got a phone call. The first question they asked was if I had signed a lease agreement specifying a 12 month tenancy. I said yes, so they told me that in that case I was lucky to be getting anything as she had every right to withhold the full deposit, and advised me not to take it further as I would undoubtedly lose the case and probably have to pay the money back plus the extra month's rent that I would be liable for!

As an aside, this landlady was not registered with the PRTB, which is required by law - they didn't give a monkeys about this either.

I would advise anyone to at least ring the PRTB before giving notice and see what they say because in my experience the law is heavily weighted on the landlord's side. In my experience, I found them to be completely incompetent and it's unfortunate but not surprising that they are still giving out what appears to be incorrect information on their website.

[Deleted User]

Well, my auctioneer also is of the same opinion of me

I have never had any dealings with the PRTB only to register the tenancy. I reckon what's on their site is correct. Do keep in mind that if a tenancy is not registered with them they don't have to get involved, weird but true. Of course once they became aware of your tenancy they are meant to contact the landlord and request why the tenancy is not registered.

I'm not a propor landlord as such, I bought a home years ago but moved back to Cork so had to rent it out, if the dudes there want to move out I see that as fine as I was in the same position myself.

clitusclark

RoverJames wrote: »

Well, my auctioneer also is of the same opinion of me I have never had any dealings with the PRTB only to register the tenancy. I reckon what's on their site is correct. Do keep in mind that if a tenancy is not registered with them they don't have to get involved, weird but true. Of course once they became aware of your tenancy they are meant to contact the landlord and request why the tenancy is not registered.

I'm not a propor landlord as such, I bought a home years ago but moved back to Cork so had to rent it out, if the dudes there want to move out I see that as fine as I was in the same position myself.

I'll grant you that the info on their site seems clear enough, and I thought I had a watertight case, but they utterly contradicted it when I contacted them. If they don't want to get involved then there's not much you can do, but the tenant shouldn't be punished for the landlord's failure to register the property in accordance with the law.

Some landlords like yourself will be decent about it but many will try and squeeze as much money out of you as possible so I'd just urge caution to anyone trying to get out of a lease early. Regardless of what the website says, the info I got is that when push comes to shove the lease agreement is a legal document and if you've signed it, then you have to abide by it or pay the price.

[Deleted User]

If a landlord isn't registered with the PRTB they are quite likely not declaring the rental income so if they get awkward it's not too difficult to play hardball with them. Legally a signed lease is a load of arse, it isn't above the law.

clitusclark

RoverJames wrote: »

If a landlord isn't registered with the PRTB they are quite likely not declaring the rental income so if they get awkward it's not too difficult to play hardball with them. Legally a signed lease is a load of arse, it isn't above the law.

Figured the same myself, but you don't have anywhere else to turn if the PRTB refuse to help you. Just confirms my suspicions that they are a bunch of gowls. But I'm not bitter or anything! :P