'Noisy nookie not allowed' Mullingar tenants told

Tenants about to move into a housing estate in Mullingar last week were bemused to find themselves warned that they might annoy their neighbours if they allowed their amorous activities to become too...loud!A number of people who were about to move into houses at the Raithín estate were on a "pre-tenancy" course run by the housing association HELM, which has been commissioned by Westmeath County Council to deal with tenancy agreements at a new build on the Raihin estate, when they were given the warning.In the course of a slideshow, HELM listed the top ten bad habits which could lead to bad vibes with neighbours - and among them was "excessively noisy love-making", which came in at number 9.The slide show caused more than a few guffaws amongst residents but was taken in good fun.HELM told the Westmeath Examiner this week that they weren't really concerned about the possibility of their tenants becoming overly enthusiastic in the bedrooms of their new homes.They had, a spokesperson said, showed the slides simply to "break the monotony" of the meeting."This won't affect anyone's tenancy," said a housing officer. "You know how long these meetings can be and in a survey done in the UK people said that it was one of the most annoying things about their neighbours."Westmeath County Council declined to comment on the matter as they have passed the reins over to the housing association which will look after excess social/affordable and council house stock in Mullingar and Kinnegad. The move was made in an attempt to get quick cash flow from vacant properties.