Stefan and Rodica Anghel are dependent on the goodwill of friends for many of their daily needs. For the Monagahan-based Romanian asylum-seekers, who barely speak English, even the simplest of tasks can be impossible without help.
When they had to go to the hospital for the recent birth of their baby daughter, they needed a friend to telephone for a taxi. When they get official letters, they have to get a friend to read and explain them in basic Eng lish. Luckily, the young couple have very good friends and know that help is always just a phone call away.
But the people offering such support - vitally filling the gaps in back-up services for the growing numbers of Romanian asylum-seekers in Co Monaghan - do not themselves receive any financial assistance.
The Castleblayney-based Roma Support Group, a small voluntary organisation formed in response to the arrival of 47 Romanians in the town last year, is clearly overstretched.
The group's members helped Stefan and Rodica find the four-bedroom bungalow in a private estate outside the town which they moved into earlier this month.
But the couple, who have three children aged between four years and four months, seem to have little understanding of their legal situation or their rights. They made their application for refugee status six months ago in the Refugee Application Centre in Dublin's Mount Street without trying to get legal advice.
Stefan says he is happy to be in Ireland, with his family around him and nice friends and neighbours. Like many Romanians in Monaghan, he is regularly on the streets selling the Big Issues magazine.
"One of the big problems is when I would like to speak to a lawyer or someone who knows better. They don't have the language," he says, speaking through a translator. "I really want to do any kind of work, instead of standing in the rain selling a newspaper."
The Anghels came to Monaghan voluntarily, attracted by the growing cluster of fellow Romanians in the area. They are one of six families of asylum-seekers and two families of refugees in Co Monaghan. The North Eastern Health Board hosts 200 asylum-seekers and refugees.
Although the State's dispersal policy will not be introduced formally until next year, new asylum-seekers are already being settled outside Dublin. About 150 people have been sent to towns including Kilkenny, Waterford and Longford.
Letters have been sent out asking about 2,800 asylum-seekers in emergency accommodation in the Eastern Health Board area if they wish to move voluntarily to another part of the country.
Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain, the Sinn Fein Cavan-Monaghan TD, says services are not geared to meet the special needs of the new residents. "Despite the best efforts of individuals, the system at local and national level is not equipped to cope," he said.