Phyllis Clarke – five happy decades in Fivemiletown

Next up, is Phyllis Clarke from Corcreevy Court, Fivemiletown, who bought her Housing Executive home nearly 30 years ago.

Chairperson of Fivemiletown Estates Group, she is heavily involved with the Housing Executive and is passionate about helping the community.

She said; “I have full praise for any agency I volunteer with, you get any amount of work, but I love it.

“I was born in a Housing Executive house and got married at 18 and I had always been a tenant until we bought our Housing Executive home 25 years ago and we are still here.”

Phyllis has fond childhood memories of life in a Housing Executive home and lives just across from the home where she was born.

“My childhood and adulthood has always been in a Housing Executive park and we have always been happy.

“Forty-six years ago I signed up as a tenant and we never had any problems when we looked for a transfer they were very good to us.”

Life in Corcreevy Court has also had some sombre memories for Phyllis and her family over the years.

“We were bombed out of our home on 7 May 1992 and at that stage we had bought it and the Housing Executive still rehoused us and it was a 1,000lb bomb and we were out of our home for 14 months.

“We didn’t move back until July 1993 and the Housing Executive were amazing at that stage and we were the biggest family to be left homeless with four kids and we were housed the next day.”

Phyllis also sits on the rural housing panel in Cookstown and is passionate about rural housing.

She is an advocate for home self-improvement and has carried out extensive work to her home over the years, along with her husband.

View our interview with Phyliis below: