LittleMiss, don't give up hope. 5 years ago when I moved into my development the management company had a judgement against it, it was €500k in debt, the communal areas were shabby, we had loads of structural/building problems, no house rules were enforced and as a result it was becoming a noisy and chaotic place to live.
We were lucky in that we had one very committed and able resident who took over the Board but with the help of other neighbours we gradually turned the place round. We are now completely solvent, we sorted the judgement issue, we are tackling the building problems, and it's a well maintained and peaceful place to live. I love it now and wouldn't live anywhere else!
All this was achieved with approx 80% of the apartments having been bought by investor landlords. Not all of them will be unwilling to help (although I take your point - many of them won't care as they're not living there themselves). But any decent businessman or woman will want to make the most out of their 'investment' such as it is in the current market.
It's a renters market out there and landlords are going to find it very hard to rent their apartment when the development is in such a state. They will have a higher turn over of tenants and won't be able to charge top rate rents. They are also less likely to get 'good' tenants. So they may be persuaded that it is in their interest to get involved.
As you say, tenants can't get involved with the running of the company. But they can put pressure on their landlords to do something. And we find that although 'officially' tenants in our building can't help, a good proportion of them are very obliging and do their bit to help keep our complex clean and tidy. They have at times given services for free etc because after all they are living there as well and it is their home too.
Unfortunately if you are finding it difficult to live there at the moment you're not going to find it easy to get anyone to pay to live there either. So renting the apartment out may not be an option.
You are entitled to see details of who else is in your management company so perhaps if you can get even a handful of owner occupiers together you could write to the rest of the members to explain how badly the development has deteriorated.
I know this all sounds like huge hassle for you but it must be awful to be living there at the moment so surely it's worth doing something. Even by posting a few notes through people's doors you can gauge the level of interest with your neighbours. If there are 3 or 4 of you even - who are willing to give a little time to it - you can reap huge benefits. And it's not all resting on your shoulders.
Once other owners know that something is happening and people are getting together to sort the problems, you may find they will be more likely to pay their fees next year. And if they aren't - well hopefully you will have a good management agency in place by then who can chase them through legal routes to pay up. Once members know you mean business you may be pleasantly surprised how quickly you can get money in and start making improvements.
It will be very interesting to hear what comes up at the EGM.
Remember if you are in Dublin the Apartment Owners Network meet up once a month so it might be worth your while to contact them - at least you will know you are not alone!