Colleen and John McDonagh, and their six children from Tallaght, Co Dublin, have been homeless since Monday. Since then they have been placed in hotels in Dún Laoghaire and Navan, Co Meath, and a hostel in Dublin city centre.
“The council [South Dublin County Council] gave me a list of about 100 hotels and said to call them all until we got a room,” says Colleen.
“They were all either full, didn’t accept Dublin city council payments or they didn’t have room for a family of eight.”
The house which the family had rented for five years, for €1,000 a month, was recently sold. The landlord had let them stay six weeks beyond the date they were to leave, but in the end, with a sale agreed, they had to go.
By 5.30pm on Monday, with still nowhere to stay, Focus Ireland referred them on to its family homeless action team (Hat). It found them a room for one night in a hotel in Dún Laoghaire.
On Tuesday the process started again. They tried the hotels on the list. Hat tried from 5.30pm until 8.30pm, which referred them on to the rough sleeper team, run by Focus Ireland and the Peter McVerry Trust.
The couple and their children Michael (11), Chloe (10), Sandra (8), John (6), Gerard (4) and Anna (22 months) were in their car at 9pm when they got a call to saying there was room in a hostel if they were there by 9.30pm.
Borrowed sheets
“There were two sets of bunkbeds in the room, and it was filthy. The blankets were dirty and stained. The smell from the room was awful,” says Colleen.
“I had to send John to go and borrow sheets from friends. It was after 10pm by the time the kids got to bed, and they had school the next morning.”
On Wednesday night, at about 8pm, Hat sourced them a room in a hotel 60km away in Navan.
“I washed the school uniforms in a friend’s house in Tallaght,” she said yesterday.
Embarrassed
“We had to drive back this morning. They were over an hour late for school, and Michael was embarrassed going in late. I said I’d explain why he was late but he said, ‘no, I don’t want anyone knowing I’m homeless.’ I am worried about him. He needs this year, starting secondary school next year.”
John, who works as a courier, took this week off to help search for emergency accommodation. Speaking to The Irish Times at 6.30pm last night, Colleen didn't know where they would sleep.
“I can’t take this another night, sitting in the car with six kids, and school tomorrow and nowhere to sleep. All I want at this stage is a clean room where I can put the kids to bed at night.”
South Dublin County Council, which has told the family there was no emergency accommodation available, did not provide a comment.
