Neighbour Noise Nuisance

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DareToBeARose

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Recently bought a new-build terrace house in Dublin.

Let's say we are in house no. 7 on a street of terraced houses. I am in my late 40s, female, sole carer to elderly parents in their mid 80s. I am also the sole breadwinner in the family and work full time.

In house no. 5 (immediately next door) is a young family - male & female in mid 20s and two young children.

Right from the time we moved in, there has been loud music from the neighbour. Heavy string music, bass & drums - all causing heavy vibrations going through the party wall into our house. We suffered in silence for a while. But earlier this year (January 2025) I decided to raise the issue with the female neighbour only because I had an open line of communication with her via Facebook Messenger - it was a private chat.

She actually conceded to me that the male in the house 'likes his music' and she is having to constantly tell him to 'lower it'. Her justification is he likes to listen to music while showering, usually around 6-6:30 p.m. This 'music-for-showering' can be heard in every room in our house on both the floors - I am not exaggerating.

This is not the only times when the noise nuisance happens either. There is the drums and bass happening during the weekends too. The vibrations can be felt through the party wall in the bedrooms on the first floor. We are unable to have a lie-in on weekend mornings or rest in the afternoons, if feeling unwell from the various infections that are going around in the winter.

The noise nuisance did not stop despite the request on Facebook Messenger. I was at my wit's end and put up a post in the Facebook discussion page of the housing estate about neighbours' noise nuisance. It was a general post purely to see who else in the estate had similar issues; there was no mention of our address or any indication of the identity of the neighbour. But this female decided to post replies on this open discussion forum, under her own name, that was visible to all 650 members of the Facebook group. It escalated and she was quite unpleasant to me on the forum. I responded as politely as I could.

This was all in writing on Facebook without even realizing that she was incriminating herself - the female was all about justifying the male's behaviour and took the tone of 'like it or lump it - we will keep carrying on as we please'. There was also the direct threat of playing loud music at unsociable hours. As you can imagine on such social media 'discussions', someone totally unrelated joined in the neighbour's favour and suggested that I move house. As if it is that easy!

I have tried recording the noise on my android phone but it does not turn out very well. The thumping from the bass and drums is not really recordable but is 'feelable' and so very annoying.

I have been emailing the Community Policing team at the local Garda station. The advice I got was to call 112 when the noise nuisance happens. I did this last Friday. Understandably, this is not a top-priority in the scheme of things; I don't think they arrived in time to hear the noise for themselves. I am told the neighbour did eventually get a visit from the Gardai following the 112 call. But the noise nuisance happened again yesterday (Tuesday)

I spoke to the Community Garda assigned to the estate yesterday (before the noise nuisance happened again). They kept saying domestic noise is okay within 'daylight hours'. There is no mention of any such thing in the Noise Regulations.

When I raised the issue with the Environmental Protection officer in the Council, they suggested mediation. Not sure this will work because of the unpleasant Facebook comments by the female neighbour - bridges burnt. The neighbours have also taken to vexatious parking - they park their two vehicles illegally on the lines in the parking bays in front of our houses to make me park as far away from my front door as possible. I took pictures of the way their vehicles were parked yesterday; shortly afterwards the male knocked on our door. Fearing an unpleasant confrontation, I didn't open the door.

My mother has heart failure and sometimes needs to rest all day. But our ability to rest, in peace and quiet, at times of our choosing, is being held to ransom by the whims of the neighbours.

I know perception of noise nuisance is subjective. What we see as stressful and causing us distress might be acceptable to others. I have carried out my own sanity checks. I invited a friend who lived around the corner to 'witness' the noise nuisance for themselves. They agreed the noise level was disturbing.

It also feels like an invasion of our privacy. We don't feel comfortable in our own home; always on edge about when the noise nuisance will start again.

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- What else can I do?
- Take the matter to the District Court? What standard of evidence is required? Please can someone give me detailed advice on gathering this.
- Can I complain under anti-social behaviour laws or non-fatal offences laws? Again, what kind of evidence do I need?
 
Humm no solid advice other than I am sorry you are going through this it must be very stressful. I would take the Environmental Protection officer up on their offer. I would like to be seen to be doing everything I could to resolve the issue.

Perhaps even have the offending parties into your house with a 3rd party to hear it for themselves - I mean they will say they can't hear anything but at least you will have tried.
 
Anything useful here?

Noise pollution and noise complaints

The rules as regards the control of noise, the various bodies responsible and how to complain about excessive noise
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
DareToBeARose said:
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Where is this taken from and what is its relevance?
 
DareToBeARose said:
But earlier this year (January 2025) I decided to raise the issue with the female neighbour only because I had an open line of communication with her via Facebook Messenger - it was a private chat.
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DareToBeARose said:
shortly afterwards the male knocked on our door. Fearing an unpleasant confrontation, I didn't open the door.
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If my neighbour had a problem with me but would only try to deal with it online and not through a face to face conversation I would interpret that as pretty rude and passive aggressive and it might put me off bothering to try to engage constructively.
 
Communication is communication - via social media or another means. At least it provides a written record of what was 'discussed'. In this day and age no different from writing a letter or emailing someone. The point is to highlight that what they are doing is causing us an inconvenience. A reasonable person would take that in the right manner.
Can hardly blame me for not wanting to get into a heated conversation with a 20 something male. The knock seemed aggressive, he did not ring the doorbell. When I looked through the vision panel, there was a scowl on his face.
Facebook Messenger is used by friends to communicate with each other all over the world all the time, what is so passive-aggressive about it? At the time, the relationship with this female was cordial enough to use this medium.
 
The national protocol used by local authorities for dealing with noise pollution complaints might give you some ideas on how to go about dealing with this issue.

Making a Noise Pollution Complaint

Dublin City Council investigates noise pollution complaints and takes enforcement action if necessary to deal with breaches of noise control legislation.
www.dublincity.ie www.dublincity.ie
If it was me I'd consider (a) hiring or buying a noise meter to objectively establish the level of noise being generated (b) keeping a record of incidents and (c) talking to the neighbours face to face about it.
 
Hi DareToBeaRose,

Welcome to AAM.

Sorry to hear that you are going through this horrible experience. Know exactly what its like as we had a rented house next door to us for 14 years and it was horrific. Party, party, party and constant loud music during night when our children were very young. We tried all the avenues that you have mentioned but did not go to the District Court but probably should have.

It has left me with an obsession about loud music which I hate and don't feel that it will ever go away. Like most experiences in life you will really only understand what its like when you go through it yourself.

Would have to say in light of the fact that they are aware that there are elderly people in the house and still carry on, along with the parking nonsense, and coming banging on the door they don't sound like good thoughtful neighbours.

Just wondering if there is any chance that they are actually renting so you could follow up with the landlord? The PRTB website used to have a list of properties that are rented but that was a long time ago so it may have gone by now.

At the time of our problem the Community Garda paid a few visits next door and spoke to the tenants not that it made a big difference but some of them did quieten down a little. Perhaps you could try that approach if the Garda will agree to do so. I would also discuss with the Garda what you felt was intimidation tied into the parking situation. If they are not helpful perhaps speak to the Sgt in the station to see if they can come up with other options.

If there is a Management Company in the estate they should be helping out too or Management Agent.

Best of luck with it and I hope it improves in time as besides yourself its definitely not pleasant for your parents especially if they are unwell.

S.E.
 
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Hi,

Me again. CCTV and possibly one of the recording doorbells (we got Tapo as there are no yearly fees) might be worth a consideration in case you need proof of the messing with the parking and calling to your home. It might help to be able to show to Gardai or if you do go to District Court.
 
DareToBeARose said:
I was at my wit's end and put up a post in the Facebook discussion page of the housing estate about neighbours' noise nuisance. It was a general post purely to see who else in the estate had similar issues; there was no mention of our address or any indication of the identity of the neighbour.
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This was foolish on your part but it’s done now.

There is some good advice on this thread.

I hope your neighbours will at some point come into the house to witness it. It’s very possible they can hear you too.

My current house has incredibly good party walls. I know this as my neighbour (on whom I am on very good terms) let me test loud music and nothing was audible for her.

My last house had extremely bad party walls and our neighbours’ dog annoyed us a lot but it turned out so did our TV in the living room which was audible to our neighbours. With good will on both sides we managed to limit nuisance as much as possible with both of us realising structural problems meant that noise could never be eliminated.
 
@DareToBeARose
You can make a section 108 complaint to yout local district court.
I have done this and the process is straightforward.

Fill in the form and go to your local district court and pay the fee (25 euro approx)

You will then be called to the district court and a date and time for the court hearing will be set.

You then attend the court on the set date.

You don't need a solicitor.

Set out your verbal case to the judge as set out in your first post.

The judge will then hear the defendants case.

There is no need to have noise meter readings or other witnesses.

The judge will then decide to convict the defendant.

The judge will then state that the conviction will be suspended for 4 weeks. The judge will ask you and the defendant to meet during this time period and come to an agreement regarding the noise which is acceptable to you.

You and the defendant will be asked to attend the court again after the 4 weeks and if an agreement has been reached the conviction will be cancelled.

If no agreement has been reached the conviction will be applied
and action taken against the defendant.

This is an unwritten process which is applied in these cases.

During the 4 weeks negotiation period the defendant is under the threat of court conviction. This will focus their attention to come to an agreement acceptable to you.

If you are unfamiliar with court attendance, you should visit your local district court to listen in on some cases. The public are free to walk into all cases except those that are held in camera.

You address the judge as "Judge"

Stand up when speaking to the judge.

Worst case scenario is that the judge does not accept your evidence
( this is unlikely). If this happens your only loss is the nominal fee.

You are free to take a follow up case and provide sound meter readings and witnesses.
 

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Neighbour plays loud music. His partner/housemate says she has difficulty with this. She was approached on private social media instead of person to person. Situation expands into full blown public social media albeit confined to people living in the immediate area. Suddenly, partner/ housemate changes tack and attacks rather than defending. It is obvious partner/housemate tried to play the victim too. But, she threatened more noise in retaliation. The victims unmistakably are @DareToBeARose and her family. An opportunity appears to have been lost with no physical contact and resorting to social media. But, the bottom line is innocent people are being subjected to appalling loud noise. My thought is that the only solution now is to involve the courts. It will take time, but there seems to be no other option.
 
Thank you all for your input.

Sarah Ryan - I hadn't looked at the mediation option seriously until you mentioned it was worth trying. If I choose to go down this road, I will have to personally ask the neighbour to participate. If my personal requests and the Gardai calling in to them isn't changing their behaviour, how is a non-binding voluntary process like mediation going to change anything? It will cost €100 per party too. Still not discounting this yet.

Sue Ellen - You hit the nail on the head "Like most experiences in life you will really only understand what its like when you go through it yourself." Everyone says just ignore it or put up with it or move house or wear ear plugs. As if it was that simple! It is hell when one cannot relax in their own home.
Community Garda says it is their 'personal opinion' that loud music at 6 p.m. in the evening is to be considered acceptable in an urban area. Not much consolation there. They also told me that parking on the lines in the parking bays is not a big issue because it is a public road?! There was no point arguing. They probably see me as a middle-aged woman who likes to complain about everything; which is definitely not the case.
I am going to install a doorbell.

Dr Strangelove - At the time it seemed a harmless thing to do - venting to strangers and information gathering. I still have my justifications in my head but can also now see why it turned out the way it did. The foreman of this new-build housing estate assures me that the party wall between our houses has passed the current acoustic and air tightness regulations.

S class - I cannot thank you enough for your reply. This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for when I came to AAM. I am sure it will help others in my situation too.
But I have one query - surely, it is not a given that the judge will find in favour of the complainant?
 
Hello,

This problem is unlikely to ever go away, at this stage...

Rather than keep living with it, I'd suggest that you take action to try and soundproof the most important parts of your house.

While I appreciate that this will cost money, and it's unfair that you should have to pay it, you need a solution and to be able to get on with your life...

Any legal action taken against your neighbour will be slow, will cost money, may not get the desired result, and will only make the relationship worse.

Do a search online and you'll find various suggestions for soundproofing houses, from the inside.
 
I would approach neighbour again personally with an open mind asking for a honest and open chat on the matter. If you are nervous explain that to them before you start. Maybe write a letter asking for a meet with the points you want to outline. Anything is better than what's happening now so you've nothing to lose. I'm speaking from experience and get on well with said neighbour now.
 
DareToBeARose said:
surely, it is not a given that the judge will find in favour of the complainant?
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I took my case in Dun Laoghaire District Court.

I spoke to an official in the DLRCC environmental department before hand. He told me that this is how all these cases are handled.

This is exactly what happened in my case. The judge simply stated that she was convicting the defendant, and delaying the conviction for 4 weeks. I had no witnesses or sound meter evidence.

The defendant refused, outside the court, to meet and negotiate with me , but the noise (drums and an amateur band ) stopped immediately. As a result of the defendants lack of cooperation the judge at the next hearing decided to leave the case open indefinitely, and told me to immediately contact the court if the noise restarted.

From submitting the court complaint form to a successful outcome took approximately 3 months.

I know how you are feeling, the thumping noise from the drums was penetrating into the whole house. I could even hear it coming down the chimney. The relief when it ended was fantastic.

The threat of a court sanction is obviously all that is needed to deal with most of these ignorant noisy neighbours.
You should take the court case.
 
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I fully sympathise but S Class is correct here - the only way to stop it is via the courts. I've had a couple of these neighbours over the years, and it goes without saying that they were horrible people to boot. Only a horrible person deliberately continues to inflict loud music on neighbours beside them even after a complaint. In the first case I was on the upper floor of an apartment were the girl downstairs threw all night parties bringing all her buddies back from the pub every single weekend. Over the Christmas period it went on for 2 full weeks non stop & these nightclub level noise parties went on til 10am the following day. I complained to the landlord who tried to get her to stop, she was supposed to apologise but instead chose to verbally attack me instead. Eventually the social welfare cut off her dole because she hadn't turned up to 5 meetings with the social, and the landlord evicted her.

In the second case 10 years later myself and then partner were renting a duplex over a series of 2 bed apartments and we worked late night and sometimes all night shifts. There was a particularly horrible girl downstairs in the apartment there, who I think was a daughter of the owners and was not there all the time we were there. Occasionally there was noisy parties but it was just general antisocial, thoughtless behaviour, like putting on a BBQ right outside the back patio so that the smoke drifted straight up into our windows upstairs. Later on she got a dog from a local pound, and instead of keeping it indoors or bringing it somewhere else when she went to work or out, she just left it outside to freely roam. As the development was not gated and completely open, the dog roamed everywhere and eventually bit a visitor in the car park. Then after someone complained she started tying the dog up to a drainpipe outside where it cried and howled all day. Poor thing wasn't even left food or water. We complained to the council and the dog was taken from her.

There are awful people in the world. Sometimes the only way to deal with them is to talk to an authority figure. The big challenge is to determine between people who are just inadvertently living their lives noisily without meaning harm, and those who just are antisocial and inconsiderate of others. My sister has a next door neighbouring family who are really noisy in an annoying way, so much so that the man on the other side of her sold his house and moved because of the annoyance.
 
I'll offer a caveat to S Class 's excellent posts.
The done thing in DLRCC and D L District Court may not be replicated across all District Court areas, although it would be great if it now is.

A query from the OP to their local District Court office would I'm sure help clear up that question.
 
Apologies - I am unable to do reactions to individual posts and quote anyone - possibly because I only just joined?

S class - A huge weight off my mind. Thank you so much.

Leper - that kind of sums it up. The courts, it is then. Unfortunately, although this has been happening since we moved in in May 2024, I have only recently started documenting the incidents. I will need to keep the incident log going for another few months before I can present to the District Court, I think.

Zobeda - I would be going to Dun Laoghaire District Court too. Thanks for the caution.

In Autumn 2024 (didn't note the exact date), I did ring their doorbell, the female answered, I told her the music was too loud and it was reduced at the time. But the message didn't stick. It happened over and over again.
On 1st February 2025, Saturday morning - loud music again - rang their doorbell - no answer. Hung around their front door for about 5 minutes for it to be answered. Just the young child peeping out of the living room window to see if I was still there. No sign of any of the adults.
I did make an effort.
When I sent the FB Messenger post about the noise, I had regularly been messaging her on it - to tell her that her car window was not fully up & that someone was banging on their front door around midnight during the Christmas holiday period. It had been a reasonable channel of communication at the time.
 
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