Concerns raised a year ago about man found dead at Sallynoggin home, local claims

A local Sallynoggin resident has claimed that they raised concerns with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council about tenant Michael Whiston (76) for the first time about a year ago and a few times in 2021 .

His decomposed remains were found last week at the local authority house where he lived in south Dublin’s Sallynoggin.

Greg Keegan, manager of the local Spar manager, where Mr Whiston shopped almost daily, said he was last seen there in 2020 shortly before the pandemic began. "He used to come in to do his shopping. Didn't say much really. He'd be in most days. He was a regular customer."

He noticed Mr Whiston stopped coming in “just before lockdown in 2020, about then. A quiet man, there was nothing too special about him (in appearance). He came in most days, pretty much every day he’d get his groceries, a few sandwiches, down to the deli even. Then he just stopped.”

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A local person, who does not wish to be identified, became concerned about Mr Whiston towards the end of 2020, noticing he had not been seen about for some time. “He used to be out for a walk most days.”

This person said they first wrote to the council raising these concerns “about this time last year. I wrote to them about six times (in 2021).” There were some follow-up phone calls but nothing else happened, they said,

“Towards the end of last year there were two gardaí passing and I spoke to them about him,” the person said.

Some time later Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council posted a notice on Mr Whiston's door confirming his tenancy at the house would end "with immediate effect" unless he contacted them within a month of its being served on October 15th 2021. The notice remains on Mr Whiston's door.

Last week council workers went to clear out the cottage cottage after they had tried to contact him and apparently concluded the house had been abandoned.

However, the council’s workers found an old War of Independence hand grenade in the house, and a security operation was put in place. After the grenade was made safe clearing work resumed and Mr Whiston’s remains were found by the council workers.

A postmortem concluded he died last year, with his remains having lain undiscovered for months and there was no foul play in his death.

The same local person said they had now written to the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Housing, the Garda Commissioner, and the council. They wanted to protest in the strongest terms about how it was possible for someone to be neglected and dead for so long without being discovered “in an area as affluent as this with so many people around. Something has to be done about this.”

This person, who did not know Mr Whiston by name, said “he was a hoarder” who had lived at the house “for about 12 years”.

“He had a mother in a nursing home on the northside but that was a good while ago, and he used visit people at Christmas until a number of years ago. He didn’t seem to have any relatives.”

In a statement responding to the issues raised, the council said : “A Garda investion into the matter is curently under way and Dun Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council will not be issuing a statement at this time”.