Homelessness crisis laid bare by councillor and campaigner

The harrowing stories of four Meath families in homeless accommodation were highlighted at the December meeting of Navan Municipal Council by Cllr Alan Lawes.

Councillors heard of cockroach and rat infestations, and of a family with nowhere else to go, sleeping on the floor of a local business.

Cllr Lawes asked at the meeting that before his fellow councillors and officials broke up to go off to celebrate Christmas with their families, that they take a few moments to listen to the stories of some Navan based families and individuals who are homeless and staying in emergency accommodation.

The families in question attended the meeting.

"Three of the families are working families with children enrolled in school in Navan and College in Dunboyne. "They have been working since their arrival in Ireland and never asked for any help from the state until they became homeless. But just like over 16,000 other people here, they are unfortunate enough to find themselves homeless.

"That’s when they desperately appealed to Meath County Council for help but were refused with the council telling them they were not entitled to any housing support.

"I was with one family in Buvinda House when they received the news from a housing officer and the two children, an 11-year-old special needs girl and her 14-year-old sister burst into tears, extremely upset.

"I persisted with representations on the families’' behalf and two of the families were given temporary emergency accommodation until 1st December and then they would be evicted.

"That’s when I sought the help of Mercy Law, a legal charity that represents homeless people. They immediately got involved and informed me and Meath County Council that they were mistaken and that workers under EU Law the families were entitled to housing support and secondly as all the children involved were enrolled in school they were entitled to be supported to fulfil their educational aspirations. Then Meath County Council lifted the threat of eviction and the families were initially delighted."

He explained that Ernistina and her six-year-old son and her 17-year-old daughter were staying in emergency accommodation in Slane. "While her journey to school in Johnstown meant a very early start, getting up at 5.30am, they were managing as the emergency accommodation in Slane was of good standard and the landlady was very helpful and kind to the family."

Cllr Lawes said the second family were staying in Drogheda in accommodation of a very high standard and with another very helpful and kind landlady. "Most importantly with the children in school and the mother working in Navan, the bus stop was just outside the door."

"Then for some reason both families were moved. Ernestina and her children were moved to an area in Drogheda, way outside the town giving Ernestina a 30-minute walk with the two children to the bus station and making a difficult situation in Slane an almost impossible one in Drogheda.

The other family were also moved to the same accommodation as Ernestina, again without explanation and further away from the bus stop.

"While both families were initially delighted that the eviction threat was lifted which helped ease their stress and anxiety, particularly for the children, their happiness was quickly shattered by the unexpected and unexplained move."

Cllr Lawes then spoke about the third working family. Mum Rose with two children, 19 and 17-year-olds.

He had to remind the council of Mercy Law’s intervention and EU law before the council found accommodation for the family.

The family had to sleep on the floor of a local business one night and Cllr Lawes found accommodation for the family the second night before they were accommodated.

" With Rose working in Navan, her daughter in college in Dunboyne and her son in school in Navan, they placed the family in Drogheda."

All the families were by then housed in the same accommodation.

"All the rooms were suffering a huge infestation of cockroaches. The families found them in their beds crawling out of the walls from under the floors and all over the bathrooms traumatising the children all over again. "Ernestina told me her six-year-old son got very upset and couldn’t sleep at all.

"In addition, Rose, her 19-year-old daughter and her 17 year old son were all placed in the same room together, which in my mind is totally inappropriate."

Cllr Lawes said the treatment so far of these families by Meath County Council had been disgraceful and the whole process was extremely traumatizing for the children.

"Finally I will tell you Christopher’s story. His story is similar to many single homeless men who are routinely placed in emergency accommodation all over the county, many without bus links or limited links and many placed outside our own county particularly in Drogheda."

He explained Christopher was in accommodation a few kilometres out the Kentstown Road. "It has a limited bus service, but the most disturbing thing is that it has a large infestation of rats. When I asked if Christopher could be moved I was told there was nowhere else available."

He said he invited the homeless families to attend the meeting so councillors hear their stories before they voted on an emergency motion that was to come before the council today.

"The motion was to be put forward asking councillors to oppose the council’s attempt to build a hostel on the junction of Kentstown and Metges Road. But the motion was withdrawn shortly before the meeting started.

"I thought it was very important that all councillors and all our officials and the general public heard these families stories in order to understand how desperately short we are of suitable quality emergency accommodation and how we need more beds urgently," he concluded.

A spokesperson for Meath County Council said emergency accommodation is, by its nature, a short-term measure intended to support households until they can transition from homelessness to more sustainable housing.

"Placements are generally provided on a night-by-night basis. The Council’s Settlement Team regularly reviews all placements in line with overall demand and the availability of homeless services.

For this reason, we cannot guarantee that a household will remain in the same emergency accommodation for the duration of their stay.

"From time to time, households may need to be relocated to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the service and to meet the needs of all clients accessing emergency accommodation. Where families with school-going children are concerned, the Council makes every effort to place them in accommodation close to their schools where possible or in locations with suitable transport links to the town where the school is located."