A single mother of seven, who lives in a two-bedroom house in the middle of a derelict and rat-infected section of an estate in Limerick, has pleaded with a local authority to be rehoused immediately.
Ms Caroline Power, who has lived at her home in O'Malley Park, Southill, for the past 16 years, is one of only two remaining tenants still living on her road. Some 24 neighbouring families have moved out of the area in recent years depriving the neighbourhood of any sense of community or heart and soul.
Ms Power's home is now surrounded on all sides by the shells of burnt-out and boarded-up houses, grafitti, and rubbish-strewn gardens.
Her house has no central heating, the front door has been boarded up with cardboard after vandals smashed in the glass, and rats and mice are rampant.
Her seven children - who range in age from 8 to 17 years - sleep in two small upstairs bedrooms while she sleeps on the sitting room sofa.
The 36-year-old mother said last night that her ongoing requests to be rehoused had fallen on deaf ears at Limerick City Council.
Ms Power said she was particularly disappointed to learn recently that a bigger house nearby, in which she had expressed an interest to the local authority, was instead given to a single man on the housing list.
"We're not prepared to stay in Southill any longer - we just want out of here now," she said.
The run-down section of O'Malley Park where Ms Power and her children live has become a flashpoint for anti-social behaviour in recent years.
"The fire brigade is up here nearly every night of the week to deal with all the fires in the empty houses and we've had loads of other problems here," she said. Ms Power also said she has been a good tenant and that currently her account with Limerick City Council is €200 in credit.
A community activist, Mr Noel Hannan, has criticised the council's housing department for failing to rehouse the Powers. "It's an absolute disgrace that people should have to live in these conditions in 2004. I am calling on Limerick City Council to demolish all the derelict houses in this part of O'Malley Park and to rehouse the two remaining families in homes of their choice," said Mr Hannan.
Last year, the council received funding of €15 million to refurbish more than 200 houses in O'Malley Park.
However, this funding does not extend to the derelict section of the Southill estate where Ms Power and her family live.
A council offical confirmed that there was a proposal to demolish some of the derelict houses and develop the site but added that funding for the proposal still had to be secured.
"Caroline Power has been listed for transfer and we are currently looking for alternative housing arrangements within the O'Malley Park area," the official said.