Ireland AM’s Tommy Bowe and Muireann O’Connell clashed this week over differing opinions on dealing with noisy neighbours.
With the ongoing spell of fine weather, households are likely turning to their gardens to relax, and enjoy the summery conditions.
Naturally, this results in more noise around the place, particularly for those living in estates.
On Wednesday, Ireland AM agony aunt Katriona O’Sullivan was dealing with viewers’ dilemmas with one person wondering how to deal with a noisy neighbour.
The message from the viewer detailed how they had just recently moved into the house, which had been advertised as being in a ‘quiet neighbourhood.’
‘At first, the neighbourhood seemed just a little noisy, but now that the weather is getting nicer, they’re spending most evenings in the garden; they’re having barbecues and drinks,’ the viewer wrote.
‘I wouldn’t mind if it wrapped up around 9, but it’s regularly going on until 1am with loud music and conversations.’
Asked what they should do, Katriona urged ‘do not fall out with your neighbours, no matter what.’
‘You probably should have gone and had a mooch around first if you were assuming it was quiet,’ she commented.
Father-of-two Tommy noted that for households with children, neighbours gathering up until one o’clock in the morning in the garden was ‘way too late.’
With only a short few weeks of summer conditions in Ireland, Katriona advised the person to get to know their neighbours and suss out if the behaviour was normal.
‘Then, I’d say, get yourself some earmuffs, some earplugs for now, and an eye mask and cover it for a few weeks,’ she added.
‘And then call the guards,’ Tommy commented.
‘Well, I wouldn’t be calling the guards,’ Katriona reasoned, while Muireann laughed and said: ‘Would you stop it!?’
‘It’s too late, absolutely,’ Tommy continued.
‘It’s the summer, like,’ Katriona reasoned, with Muireann noting it wasn’t crazy for a weekend night.
‘Go to the bar!’ Tommy said.
‘Maybe the whole neighbourhood thinks that’s fine, there’s no issue at the end of the day,’ Katriona explained, ‘I think it’s about getting to know people first and talking to them.
‘And not living next to Tommy, if you’re really loud.’
