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Friday, 10 Mar 2023
Updated / Friday, 10 Mar 2023 19:27
Last September, Leanne and her family got six months' notice to leave
their Ballyfermot home
By Sharon Tobin
Riley turns six years old on 1 April.
That's the day he and his ten-year-old brother Carson are due to become
a homeless statistic, joining the 3,431 other children in Ireland
classified as homeless.
"Carson’s not sleeping, he’s worried. He keeps asking, 'Mam are we
going to be living out on the street in tents?’", explains his mother,
Leanne Farrell.
Last September, the family got six months’ notice to leave their
Ballyfermot home of five years.
Their landlord has returned from abroad and needs somewhere for her own
family to live.
The eviction ban put off the inevitable, until now.
"Now I have two weeks to find somewhere to go," worries Leanne.
"I got accepted for Homeless HAP again, but I’ve been emailing agents
and I haven’t even received one email back."
Riley has autism and an intellectual disability. He attends a nearby
school that has specialist classes for children with autism spectrum
disorder.
"His life revolves around routine. You can’t change anything with
Riley," said Leanne. "All he has is school and his home. His home is
his safe place."
Leanne has been calling the council and homeless services daily to try
and get some certainty on where the family might end up.
There is a homeless hub in Ballyfermot, but she’s been told there’s a
waiting list to get in there.
Dublin city homeless services have advised her to ring back two days
before the family become homeless.
"More than likely we'll end up in the city centre somewhere, a hostel
I'd say.
"That won't be good for Riley, at all. Bringing him into that will just
be horrific."
Leanne said that if they end up in Dublin city, they will have to get
buses because all their supports are around Ballyfermot.
"Riley doesn't cope well with public transport, and I don't drive."
Although she knows it is not "her fault", the housing crisis has made
Leanne feel like "a failure" as a mother and carer.
"Looking at them, when I know what's ahead of us, it's just scaring me.
"They should feel safe with me, and going into places like this
[emergency homeless accommodation] we're not going to feel safe."