By Donal McMahon and Local Democracy Reporter,Donal McMahon, Local Democracy Reporter

Copyright northernirelandworld

The high rise blocks of Rathmoyne and Coolmoyne built in 1966 were due to be pulled down in July 2023, but have faced continued delays “with no real explanation”. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) buildings have experienced fires, asbestos investigations, and now claims of copper thieves having “ripped out all the pipes”. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted the NIHE one year on from the anticipated collapse of the Seymour Hill buildings. A spokesperson said: “A tender evaluation exercise is ongoing and we anticipate we will be appointing a successful demolition contractor later in the autumn.” Following a failure to stick to a previous demolition timetable, NIHE chief Grainia Long told Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) chamber earlier this year, that she anticipated having a demolition contractor “February/ March this year, at which time we will start to take them down”. The step towards removing old tower blocks came after the June 2017 Grenfell tragedy in London, when a fire killed 72 people. Just a few months later in November, a major blaze broke out in Coolmoyne. Speaking to the LDRS, Councillor Jonathan Craig said: “As a local representative I have no explanation from anyone in the Housing Executive as to why it has taken them almost five years and longer, to have the towers actually demolished. “It just beggars belief that it has taken this amount of time to actually get to a stage where they are actually just looking at a tender for someone to demolish them, unbelievable. “The Grenfell tragedy was a key consideration for the demolition of Coolmoyne and Rathmoyne due to the cost of properly insulating the towers with fire proof material, which would have been more expensive than demolishing the blocks and building normal housing on the site. “Meanwhile the flats are just now just a focus for anti-social and criminal activity even thieves have ripped out all the copper from the buildings and you have to think, is it any wonder. “I just cannot fathom why they are taking so long for this process to be carried out.” The towers were confirmed as cleared of all residents and a tender process for a contractor open since July 2024. Demolition was expected later that same year. Mr Craig added: “There is no real explanation given. There have been plenty of excuses, but no real explanation as to why it is taking so long to demolish the flats and build what is a much needed replacement of housing for the Seymour Hill area. “From a business point of view it is completely illogical. Meanwhile the cost of construction of the new buildings just keeps rising, it is crazy. “The whole plan was to take the flats at the front of the estate down, build housing so that they could actually house the people from the flats down the road. “The NIHE is no longer getting an income from the tower blocks, so why not just get on with the process and build something that the community really needs.”