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This month my family and I went through a difficult personal time and became homeless. We were eventually placed in private emergency accommodation in Galway City by Galway City Council.
The room we were assigned was a B&B style residence. The room my family stayed in and the entire interior was run down and very dirty.
Some areas of the site could no longer be cleaned and now require complete replacement, repainting and extensive cleaning.
My wife, my young children, and I were asked to make this room a home, a safe space where we could escape the difficulties.
Standing in the room and looking at the stained mattress and bed bottom, the stained walls in the bathroom, the dirt accumulated in the shower, and the insects around the room, made me personally feel that I had lost all hope and at that moment, I was a nobody with no value and no human rights.
Governments and local authorities need to conduct regular inspections and ensure detailed inspection policies are in place for all homes within their jurisdiction and in use. No family facing hardship and distress should have to enter a home that is in such disrepair and squalor.
As a parent my priority is to ensure my children are safe, comfortable, cared for and loved and like any parent in the situation we found ourselves in we put our children first and ensure their needs were met but unfortunately the venue and rooms that the council had arranged for us meant that meeting those responsibilities was impossible due to the filth and disrepair. As someone who has worked for NGOs and indeed in politics I am very aware of the financial cost of these venues to local councils which is why I was even more shocked at what I saw at this B&B.
I am asking the council to take urgent action to develop a detailed and comprehensive inspection policy for all premises in use, and to inspect every premises before providing housing to any individual or family.
When an individual is at their lowest, a basic human right is housing.
In the latest court case from the IHREC, the ruling found that Ireland is not currently meeting human rights in relation to housing and that checking policy could be a small but perfect first step to start to rectify this.
I am a strong person and while I may be in a tough situation right now, it will soon pass, but my goal is to continue to fight for individuals and families in similar situations and correct the issues we face so that others don’t have to face the same issues.
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