Engaged... again
Facebook accounts show Apollo House couple who won nation’s hearts lived the high life in the UK
A HOMELESS couple who made headlines after getting engaged at Apollo House on Christmas Day have denied being engaged previously – despite their apparent social media history.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday yesterday, Mark Seenan and Cheryll Murphy said they were not engaged before – despite announcing their engagement publicly on Facebook in 2012 and referring to each other as ‘fiancé’ in numerous Facebook posts through the years.
Mr Seenan told the MoS: ‘We had that up because people were texting her and people were texting me, but we never had a ring or anything.’
Asked whether or not their first engagement was on Christmas Day, the 25-year-old answered: ‘Obviously the first engagement was Christmas. Jesus Christ. What the f*** is after getting out there?’
The couple made headlines when Mr Seenan proposed to Ms Murphy, 24, on Christmas Day following a performance by Glen Hansard. They later appeared on Today FM to talk about Apollo House and proudly said they had got engaged at Christmas.
The MoS asked the couple about how they came to be homeless; it was put to them that their social media accounts showed them living and working in the UK until October 2016.
According to his social media account, Mr Seenan was working for a media company and had a company car and a pension. It also showed Ms Murphy working in a clothes shop ‘full time’ and the pair enjoying meals out and treating each other to gifts. In one post, Ms Murphy raves about a new Michael Kors watch she had received from her partner.
In August 2016 Ms Seenan posted: ‘I know I said this 5 times over, but this was the best decision iv ever made. Have a brilliant job, brand new car, own my own home.’
The couple appeared on Today FM with Matt Cooper during the week and told how they ‘feared for their life’ in homeless hostels.
Mr Seenan and Ms Murphy met this reporter first in the common room at Apollo House. They were courteous and friendly.
Pointing out they were not happy their names might be used, Ms Murphy said she has friends who don’t know she is homeless and she doesn’t want to ‘let them know’.
Asked about their experience of being homeless and if they were homeless before entering Apollo House, Mr Seenan said: ‘Of course, yeah. Sleeping on the streets, being separated in hostels. A nightmare, total nightmare.’
Asked how long they were sleeping rough, the 25-year-old replied: ‘Eight years on and off. She’s doing it about five years on and off.’
The mood changed, however, when this reporter told them she had found them on Facebook and was trying to establish how they came to be homeless after working hard in Britain until October 2016.
Ms Murphy said: ‘How did you get those names? I don’t want to do this interview now.’ It was then put to the couple that they had been living in the UK and had been doing well, prompting Mr Seenan to respond: ‘How do you know that?’
Mr Seenan said he had worked hard and ‘that’s why I don’t want people to know I am homeless.
‘All media are making thousands and thousands out of our stories. Thousands and we’re just pawns in a big game of chess. That’s what we feel like. Every day we have media coming to us, are they offering us any money in our situation?
‘I have always been working hard all my life. For my name to go out there, this could ruin my reputation in my career.’
He eventually left and returned with a volunteer, saying: ‘Everything about my life they know, everything. That’s against privacy.’
Ms Murphy added: ‘I am going to go on and delete both of our Facebook accounts.’
Subsequently, Mr Seenan apologised and explained the couple’s circumstances over the past few years. He said both he and Cheryll were dealing with mental health issues and, and had lived in rented accommodation and homeless hostels in the past.
When living in rental accommodation problems arose with various landlords or rent increases. He admitted that he ‘had a lot of stuff build up from me working’ and he enjoyed ‘buying nice things’ when he could – so the couple ended up paying for a storage unit for their belongings, but had no money for food.
Their situation improved when he got a job in the UK and Cheryll moved over with him, volunteering for a charity; but Mr Seenan said he was bullied at work and Cheryll was homesick. She moved back to Ireland in October and he followed three weeks later, and he had ‘no other option’ but to become homeless. ‘We’re 17 on the list for a couple’s bed,’ he told the MoS. ‘If Apollo closes down, we’re going to be on the streets.’
He added: ‘We’d like to have our own place and start a family.’
Had a company car and a pension ‘Sleeping rough eight years, on and off’ ‘This could ruin my reputation’