Life in tent village for ‘invisible’ victims of the crisis
THEY came to Ireland during the boom as part of the wave of Polish workers seeking a better life.
Now they are forced to live in a tent village on the banks of the Royal Canal – part of the hidden human toll of the worst housing crisis in the history of the State.
Three Polish men who have lost their rental homes are among the inhabitants of around 14 tents currently erected at the rear of Mountjoy jail.
They said they feel “invisible” in an Irish society that looked for their work in the good times – but turned a blind eye when they fell on hard times.
Tadeusz Iguatowicz has a serious heart condition but refuses to leave the streets because he cannot find a hostel which will allow him to keep his beloved dog – all he has now that his wife died in Poland six years ago.
“The maximum the hostels will allow you to have is a goldfish,” he said.
He displays a letter from a landlord testifying as to his good tenancy.
Tadeusz ended up homeless after renting a place for seven years while claiming disability allowance – but fell behind in rent after he applied for a jobseeker’s allowance as he wanted to work.
This went against him and he did not receive any benefits for nine months.
He has been on the housing list for nine years.
Tadeusz stayed in his tent
during Storm Ophelia. “It was OK,” he shrugged.
Also on the housing list for nine years is Adam Kakowczyk (30), who has a job and is saving money in the hope of affording rent.
He came to Ireland at the age of 17 as a butcher’s apprentice as well as working as a hostel receptionist.
But he lost those jobs during the recession and has been homeless since 2009.
He is angry at the housing situation – but says he still loves this country.
“It is my home more than Poland,” he explained.
“Two guys passing by here offered me to live for free in the countryside – in Co Kerry,” said Adam.
“Strangers are doing more than the guys who are supposed to be looking after the homeless. It’s big business for these people, I think,” he says.
Sebastian Sobok, who suffers from epilepsy, has a job in a processing plant and also lives along the canal – pointing out that he cannot live in a hostel because, as a night worker, he needs to sleep during the day but hostels do not permit this.
His girlfriend, Anna Szymanska, suffers from deep depression and has previously attempted suicide. She is currently living in a hostel and blames herself for her own homelessness, saying she had “bad relationships”.
“It is very difficult,” she said of her current life.
But there is nothing left in Poland to go home for.