Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
LiveLine with Ciarán Cuddihy on RTE Radio 1. 51551, as I said, the number for your text, so you can send me an email, LiveLine at rte.ie and Brendan Brady is on the line. Brendan, what happened at your villa in Spain?
Well, last month in my wife's villa, squatters moved into it. So they did.
So where in Spain is this?
It's in Mercia. Now, the police were noted within 48 hours, but because my wife didn't notify the police, the police would do nothing about it. They came down to the villa, they seen the squatters in the villa, but they'd done nothing about it. They would only do something about it if my wife was there to report it. But unfortunately, she was back in Dublin.
So how did all this unfold then? Who spotted these squatters and how did you find out?
One of the neighbours spotted the squatters in the villa or outside the villa coming and going.
And what specifically did they see?
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Chapter 2: What happened at Brendan's villa in Spain?
They seen them bringing in stuff like clothes and bed gear and that various different bits and pieces that you'd need to get by day to day you know.
So did they contact you or did they contact the police or what happened?
They contacted the police and then they contacted, the people contacted us.
Okay. But the police, because they weren't contacted by the property owner, didn't respond, is that what you're saying?
They were doing nothing about it, yeah. Okay. That's right, yeah, they were doing nothing about it.
So when did you say this was?
This was mid-April.
So what's been happening since then?
Since then, I went to a solicitor and the solicitor said with cleansed lips, oh, this is a very, very difficult situation because there was kids involved. This could take quite a while to get them out, maybe a year or two. She said, because Spanish law is in favour of the squatter and not the owner of the villa.
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Chapter 3: How did Brendan discover the squatters in his holiday home?
At least if I get them out now earlier, there's more of a likelihood that the villa will be in better condition.
Do you know what condition it's in at the moment? Have you seen any photos?
Yes, I've had a video of it and it looks quite good actually. Now, it was only a short video and it didn't complete the whole video. The whole villa. It was just the downstairs of the villa. But it looked clean and it looked tidy, yes. It looked alright.
So the squatters themselves sent you that video, did they?
They sent that to the eviction company and the eviction company sent it to me.
I mean, Brendan, this is all the hallmarks of a ransom, doesn't it? And your house is the kidnap victim, basically. Absolutely.
Yeah, that's right. Because the law is on their side, they can do this.
Do you suspect that this was the plan all along? That they know that the price that they went to you at six and a half grand, that they know that's maybe a sweet spot. It's a lot of money, but it's just low enough that people might pay it.
It's an amount that's payable. Yes.
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Chapter 4: What challenges did Brendan face with the police regarding the squatters?
It's unattended.
I mean, if you get this back, if you pay them off, what will you do in the future?
Well, I can put cameras on it and I can get an alarm installed.
So that you could immediately see if someone was there and contact the police.
Exactly.
On the spot. Exactly, yeah.
Yeah. And there's some very good alarms now on the market. That will contact the police for you straight away.
Yeah.
And they'll actually... Their alarms will photograph them and video of them in your house when they come in.
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Chapter 5: What legal advice did Brendan receive about the squatters?
All right. I mean... For something that obviously is common, if that's what the mediators are saying, Brendan, it's a story I knew nothing about. And like I say...
Yeah, something I knew nothing about myself and I had to kind of feel where I was, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
And what to do and have a think about it.
But just, it's when you said that they sent the video of the house, it just, sorry to be, I'm not laughing at the situation, but it does, it's like, it's like the house is the kidnap victim here, you know what I mean? Look at it, it's fine.
Oh, yeah.
If you want it to stay fine and you want it back, here's how much you've got to pay us.
Yeah, exactly.
They know exactly what they're doing, yeah.
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