Aontú Cllr calls out unjust and unfair situation where young family may be evicted from their mobile home - O'Reilly
A Co. Cavan man who says he is being blocked at every turn as he tries to provide a home for his young family has said he is terrified of being “put out” of the mobile home he bought to try and get round the housing crisis.
31-year-old Eoin McGovern lives with his partner Maria and their 20-month-old baby boy and nine month old baby girl in a mobile home in Ballyhaise in Co Cavan.
He says “We were renting before the kids were born; We worked hard, and we saved hard. It was our dream to have our home. We were mortgage approved but the mortgage was cancelled because Maria became pregnant and had to go on Maternity leave. This was in 2022. I had € 50,000 saved but that was not enough to get anything naturally so my sister suggested that we get a mobile home .I spent €20,000 on a mobile home and within three weeks of putting the mobile home in my mother’s garden we got a letter from the council to say somebody had reported us .We were shocked and distraught as we didn't know we needed planning permission as it's on wheels it is not a permanent structure. In fairness the council was being very reasonable, it has been very nice to us, I don't blame the council at all. I just find it inexplicable that somebody who has a lovely, comfy home could report us for trying to provide a roof over our little children’s heads”.
“I’m using my mother's sewerage tank, her ESB connection and her water connection so I'm not drawing off other peoples at all. In fact, her storage tank is for eight people and we're only four. The mobile home is behind the garage so nobody can see it from the road, it’s neither an eyesore nor an inconvenience to anybody”.
“Before all this enforcement I was going to insulate the mobile home this year to make sure that it wasn't as cold as it was last year, it was freezing, and our little baby girl was just weeks old. She and my partner moved in with my mother for the winter as it would have been dangerous for the baby to have stayed in the mobile home given it was absolutely freezing. My mother’s husband has heart failure so it's really not suitable for them to have young children around the house all the time. The mobile home was my only option. I tried everything; I have worked all my life. I'm in a catch 22 situation, I'm not earning enough to get a mortgage on my own but I'm earning too much to get a social home from the council. I've never looked for anything in my life I've always worked and it’s so frustrating. My architect told me I could convert my mother's garage into a studio, or a bed sit but that is absolutely pointless because it would use up all the money I have and, in the end, we'd end up with one room, it's not a good enough for a family. . Maria is incredibly stressed. I was advised to apply for FIS, Family Income Supplement. I applied for that, that's €100 a week, but that actually put me over the threshold for a council house. It’s senseless as I wouldn’t have been approved for the FIS if I wasn’t eligible for it, which I clearly was. It’s crazy. I’m really worried, really stressed; I broke down in the council offices a few weeks saying “What do you expect me and Maria to do, are you going to put us out on the road?”. The council was very sympathetic , it’s not it’s fault”.
“Maria is so upset, it’s terrible. Thankfully she is now back to work doing three 12 hour shifts as a carer so this will help us get a mortgage .This situation has taken a huge toll on all of us. My mother is absolutely devastated about this, we are quiet people, we pay our way, we’ve never harmed anybody in our lives, we just want to be independent, we're not dragging out of the state ,yet it doesn’t seem to matter. It's just horrible, we're a young family, we should be enjoying this lovely time of our lives, but this is like a dark black cloud hanging over us all the time”.
Aontú Cllr Sarah O’Reilly, a candidate in the Cavan Monaghan Constituency in the upcoming General Election says “This is a terribly sad situation for Eoin and his family. He is being blocked at every turn and all these efforts to help himself are being hindered. This is clearly totally and utterly unfair as the Government has already stated that planning exemptions are necessary to accommodate asylum seekers, yet the same exemptions are not being accorded to Irish people. This is patently unfair. We simply cannot have a situation where a person is being discriminated against in planning terms. In the midst of the worst housing crisis this country has ever experienced, to essentially block people like Eoin from providing a roof over his and his families heads is unconscionable. We want fairness, justice and equity. This situation is anything but. What will happen to Eoin and his little family, is this Government happy to see them put out of their mobile home, where will they go?”.
