Locked Out: ‘I’m trying to keep the head strong for the kids but it is very hard’

Caroline Donohue from Kells has to leave the home she has shared with her three children for the past twelve years due to the landlord selling up but cannot find anything in her area.

Caroline who was due to move out on July 31st has been given an extension until mid September after a meeting with the council and her landlord in recent days.

The mum of three who has been searching for alternative accommodation since January says she is open to anything suitable in the general area as long as it facilitates transport for her 25 year old son, Sean who has special needs and attends The National Learning Centre in Navan.

"Anything I see on daft.ie is either gone or taken down the next day because there is such demand," she said.

"I have been looking all over Oldcastle, Moynalty, anywhere I can get estate agents I'm leaving my name and number.

"My eldest son will be 25 next month and he has special needs. I have another son who is dependent on me who is 23, I have an eighteen year old daughter and my youngest son is thirteen and he has ADHD. It's crucial that I stay in the area so that I can keep him in the same routine.

"It's an absolute nightmare, I'm trying to keep the head strong for the kids but it is very hard. I'm hardly getting a wink of sleep with the worry."

Caroline who is mum to Sean (25), Paul (23), Abbie (18) and Callum (13), has been given more time in the house she lives in to source another property but it now classed as being in emergency accommodation.

"It just so happened that I had to be out on the 31st July and it was panic stations because I literally had nowhere to go.

"The week before I was meant to be out of the house, I went to the council, I was broken, I was absolutely petrified. It's scary when you don't know where your kids are going to go. I have no choice in this and I have no say in this whatsoever.

"We had a meeting with the council and the landlord is after extending it until mid September. The landlord doesn't want to see us out on the street but he also has to sell the house.

"It's just pot luck now and I have everyone's ear to the ground in Kells.

"The two lads have a structure that is really important for them, they have their own routine, it's so stressful not knowing where we are going to be in a few weeks."