A judge criticised a local authority yesterday for pursuing an eviction against a mother of four over arrears in the present climate when “€90 billion of taxpayer’s money is being used to bail out those who fly in helicopters and bathe in sunlight”.
Judge John Neilan was hearing an application from Athlone Town Council to evict a tenant for €5,600 in rent arrears, but became incredulous when the solicitor for the unemployed woman gave evidence that she had agreed a repayment plan of €100 per month since April and had made “six out of nine” €60-a-week payments since her last court appearance in July. However, the council chose to ignore these payments because her arrangement had not been made with the correct official.