Homeless family forced to live in a caravan
Homeless family desperate for help
A DESPERATE homeless family last night pleaded for help after being forced to move into a caravan.
Priscilla Harty, her husband Thomas and their four young children share the cramped mobile home, which is not connected to any utilities and does not have a working toilet. She said: “I’ve a young baby of five months, I’ve another child of two, and the other two kids are seven and eight. This is impossible, even getting them to school. “I can’t cope. I have no washing machine, toilet, or water. I can’t cope. I have to use hot water from the kettle and put it into a basin. “I’ve a generator and we are trying to keep that going but it’s not fair on the neighbours with the noise, so we turn it off at night, and it gets cold. It’s so hard. “The house we were in was rented. We always had a good relationship with the landlady, and she told us she was going to sell. She gave us three months’ notice but we couldn’t find anything locally.” The family of six, who are members of the settled Travelling community, are on the housing list. Priscilla is now parked illegally in an estate in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, and could face legal action from the council unless they move. She said: “We don’t know what to do. The children have never lived in a caravan and we’re all so stressed. “The council will be taking us to court if we park at the end of the estate, and we know we are parked illegally – it’s a public plaza but we feel like we have nowhere else to go.” The family has requested access to the halting site in Rathkeale, where they would be able to connect to utilities, but they were frustrated that they were being denied access. Priscilla claims the council is saving the bays in the halting site for the influx of caravans at Christmas. She added: “We know the rules and we are trying. And yet they won’t let us into the halting site, with four young kids.” While the Limerick City and County Council refuses to comment on individuals, a spokesman said the family was refused entry to the halting site as it is undergoing upgrade works. They added: “Limerick City and County Council is committed to providing suitable accommodation to all of its customers.”
They won’t let us into the halting site – even with four young kids PRISCILLA harty Co limerick yesterday