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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Dan Grennan

'Disgusting' silverfish infestation driving mother to her 'wit's end'

A "disgusting" silverfish infestation is driving a mother of two to her "wit's end".

The fear of the insects crawling all over her and her two children - eight months and two years old - keep her awake at night. Jade Jacob keeps her lights on all night in her Tallaght apartment because the bugs are nocturnal and prefer the darkness.

In footage Jade shared with Dublin Live, a silverfish bug can be seen crawling up a wall feet away from her sleeping baby. The young mother also has to contend with mould and an unsafe balcony which she has been told she cannot stand on.

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She fears her two-year-old son will step out onto the unsafe balcony when her back is turned. Jade told Dublin Live: "I don't know what to do anymore, I am at my wits end.

"I see up to 60 silverfish a day. It’s a proper infestation

"I sleep in my jacket with a hood up because I am afraid those things will crawl all over me. There are eggs everywhere - they are in between my floor boards, they are in the cracks of my bed, they are in my son's cot, they are in our clothes. Their clothes have been bitten by the silverfish.

"It is disgusting. They come out in the darkness at night so I have to have my lights on at all times. Even if I do, they are still there."

She added: "All my bed clothes are destroyed with holes and everything from them. They are in my presses. They are eating my food.

"I have to throw out my food nearly every second day. They are in my little girl's baby milk and everything and she has allergies."

Pest control did come to Jade's apartment to treat the silverfish infestation but they could not carry it out because of her young children. It is Jade's second apartment in two year lease.

She was moved out of the first apartment because of issues with silverfish and mould. In July, she was moved to a new apartment block in Tallaght but it wasn't long before the same issues arose again.

And Jade believes the silverfish infestation may have spread across the entire apartment block. She says they can be found in the communal area downstairs where the letterboxes are and a neighbour said he also had silverfish in his apartment.

"When you walk into my block, they are all on the floor down there. You see them [silverfish] all on the floor downstairs where the letterboxes are."

The tenant that lives below Jade asked if she had silverfish in her apartment because they are in his. Dublin Live has contacted the real estate management company responsible for a comment.

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