A Father of school-going children who has been warned of eviction from his local authority house in north Galway has called for policy changes in the way leases for council houses are drawn up.
Mr Pat Farragher has been separated for at least a decade. However, the name of his estranged wife is still on the lease for the house he is renting from Galway County Council in Tuam. This has proved an obstacle to him buying out the property as a family home.
Mr Farragher, who featured in the national finals of the Super Dad Competition broadcast by RTE some years ago, says he realises the seriousness of the situation. He could afford to pay the rent but feels it is time to take a stand on an issue which he believes is affecting numerous lone parents around the State.
Recently his marriage was annulled and this, he says, should be sufficient reason for the council to erase his former wife's name from the lease and give him the opportunity to move forward.
But he claims the council has refused to change the lease and in protest he is withholding rent. This week he got a letter from the local authority advising him to make immediate arrangements for the payment of his arrears and warning him that failure to do so could result in legal proceedings being taken against him and the repossession of his house.
"I feel after 10 years it is time to take a stand. I first approached the council about buying out the house eight years ago but was unable to do so because I was separated. Now the church has recognised my marriage is null and void but I am getting no recognition at all from the county council."
He said he wanted the whole situation to be addressed at Government and at policy level. He feels the law needs to be changed so that after a certain length of time the name of a person on a joint lease who no longer lives in the house which is the subject of the lease should be struck off.
He is worried about what will become of his children if anything happens to him. "Will they be out on the street because I was prevented from buying a house for them? I want to make this house a family home but I am prevented from doing so.
"Right now it seems I have to break the law to win the law - I have to be evicted to get a house in my own name, which is crazy. All I want is to be able to make a permanent home for my children."
When contacted, a representative of Galway County Council said the local authority could not comment publicly on individual cases. But the representative did say communications between the council and Mr Farragher were ongoing.