‘It’s just trauma after trauma,’ says woman facing eviction as daughter prepares for exams

A mother has told about the mental anguish she is suffering as a renter in rural Kerry as she faces a second eviction notice within three years – and as her daughter sits the Leaving Cert.

Lisa O’Shea (41) and daughter Shaunnagh (18) are speaking out to highlight the stresses caused by an unstable housing market.

Ms O’Shea, a beautician from Cahersiveen, first received an eviction notice in 2021, but this was later found to be invalid by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) due to technicalities.

She received another eviction notice for the same property in March, with a date to leave her rental by November.

The landlady’s current eviction notice states the property is required for a relative.

The property owner bought the house in 2021 in an online auction.

Ms O’Shea had bid on the home but the auction price went above the amount she could afford.

Ms O’Shea acknowledged there are clear reasons why landlords might need their property back, but said the fact that she and many others cannot find stable housing, continued to be a huge issue for Irish society.

“There’s literally nowhere to rent in Cahersiveen,” the mother of one said. “So, that’s the real worry for me. That there’s just nowhere to go.”

She added: “I want to have a clear mind as a mother supporting her daughter during her exams, but with all this going on, I’m thrown.

“It’s like trauma after trauma – I’m trying to find a way forward and I can’t. I’m getting panic attacks and I’ve never had them before in my life. I’m getting palpitations from the stress.

“I’m fine one minute, then I have these feelings of dread and I can’t shake it. And then I forget I’m supposed to help sort out something for college grant applications. I’m just stressed all the time.”

Shaunnagh added: “It’s so stressful having to do the Leaving Cert and dealing with not knowing where I’m going to be living in the future, or what’s going to happen after my exams.

“It’s sad having to leave the place I’ve grown up in.

“I was a toddler moving in here and I’ve grown up in this community with these people. It’s heartbreaking to have to leave them.”

Her mother said: “I’m only speaking out to highlight again what’s going on in rural Ireland, as well as everywhere else across the country. There just aren’t enough stable properties for families.

“The truth is I’ve been stressed out since 2021, when the house was sold because I suddenly feared for our future in the property we’d called home for so long.

“And then with the first eviction notice and now this, it’s caused me a lot of stress. Yet, Cahersiveen is full of empty properties, just lying vacant.”

The town has a high number of shortterm lets, holiday homes and properties not in use and there’s even long-term dereliction, she said.

“That’s what’s going on in rural Ireland, in general. The Government absolutely must do something about all the vacant properties here. I don’t even want to rent anymore in future because rent is now astronomical and there’s absolutely no security of tenure.”

The Irish Independent has attempted to contact the owner of the property for comment.

“There’s literally nowhere to rent in Cahersiveen. Yet it’s full of empty places, just lying vacant”