Priory Hall developer: What would I apologise for?
Priory Hall developer Tom McFeely says he has nothing to apologise for in relation to the building of the defective apartment complex.
Speaking on the BBC's Spotlight show last night, Mr McFeely said he did not believe the north Dublin apartment complex was a fire hazard.
Priory Hall had to be evacuated in 2011 due to safety concerns.
But Mr McFeely last night insisted that the problems could have been fixed.
"I do not believe that Priory Hall should have been evacuated," he said.
"It's not the firetrap they said it was - there were not problems there that could not have been rectified."
Asked if he should apologise to the residents who were forced from their homes, Mr McFeely said the line of questioning was "getting to the level of the gutter media" and asked: "What would I apologise for?
"I don't think this (the Priory Hall development) was shoddily built."
Responding to Mr McFeely's comments, spokesperson for the Priory Hall residents Graham Usher said they just want to move on with their lives.
"We're very close to the end now," Mr Usher said.
"We're very close to implementing the agreement that was reached late last year.
"I'd be confident that within the next few weeks that we'll be in a position to put Priory Hall behind us -and at this stage I thinkg that everyone's just happy to move on and forget about it."
Taoiseach Enda Kenny meanwhile this morning said Priory Hall was part of a "disaster" in the construction sector.
Speaking at the National Employment Week conference in Dublin, Mr Kenny said the apartments were part of a dangerous and speculative property market, and that the circumstances that led to the development of the comples need to be left in the past.
"We have to move away from elements of the disaster that brought us down before," Mr Kenny said.
"With pyrite and Priory Hall and all of these things.
"And we need that based on enterprise and initiative and not on speculation."
Housing Minister for Housing Jan O'Sullivan meanwhile said Mr McFeely is absolutely wrong in everything he has said.
"This man and what he has said is totally unacceptable," Minister O'Sullivan said.
"What happened to the residents was a disgrace.
"They've had to go through terrible times over a long number of years with finally a resolution to the problem.
"And I would totally reject what Mr McFeely has said."
