A YOUNG homeless family of four found themselves with nowhere to go for the second time in a fortnight last week after being told their temporary hotel accommodation hadn’t been re-booked.
Gerard Tier and Deborah White had been placed in Metro Hotel, Ballymun, with their two children, aged six months and two, by Dublin City Council’s homeless section but were told by hotel staff on Wednesday that their booking hadn’t been extended.
“The staff told us at 11.45am that we had to be out of the room by midday and they had no other rooms,
? Gerard told Northside People.
“We called DCC but they had nowhere else for us to go and they just told us to wait for them to call us back.
“The hotel manager explained to us that if DCC had called they would have booked us back in but he told us they didn’t ring and the hotel was now booked out.
?
A spokesperson for the hotel said they would have been happy for the family to stay in the hotel but there were no rooms available.
“Gerard and Deborah are leaving the hotel today because today is their departure date and we are fully booked this evening,
? the spokesperson explained.
“DCC booked them in to stay with us until today and did not ask us to extend their booking until it was too late.
?
With nowhere to go the family stayed in their room for much of the afternoon, anxiously waiting for their fate to be decided by some kind of official intervention.
It was the second time in a fortnight that the family had been faced with the stark reality and uncertainty of homelessness in Dublin, having been asked to leave a previous hotel for similar reasons.
“The exact same thing happened to us then,
? Gerard said.
“We were told to leave in an hour without anywhere to go to. We were left that day until 5pm not knowing where we’d go before they eventually found this room in the Metro.
?
The family had previously been living in Longford and became homeless last October due to personal circumstances. They initially moved back to Dublin and stayed with relatives but had to leave because of overcrowding.
“We tried to find somewhere to rent but nowhere would accept rent allowance,
? Gerard continued.
“We went to the homeless section in DCC and they put us into the first hotel.
?
After moving into the Metro Hotel the couple managed to find a crèche for their two-year-old and Gerard had a placement on a local training course.
“Now we have to move again to God knows where,
? Gerard said.
“It’s a lot of pressure, especially for the kids.
?
The family was eventually placed in the Belvedere Hotel in Dublin city centre following their departure from Metro Hotel.
Local TD and Sinn Fein spokesperson on housing, Dessie Ellis, spoke to the couple and said their
“harrowing human story
? was a reminder of the failure to address Dublin’s homelessness crisis.
“We now have a situation in which 16 families a week are being made homeless in Dublin,
? he said.
“The stories of human hardship coming out of this crisis provide the sharpest representation of how the Government has failed to adequately address homelessness in this city.
?
Deputy Ellis made representations on behalf of the family last week in an effort to ensure temporary accommodation was sourced for them.
“This is the second time this has happened to this family,
? he told Northside People.
“There’s no way people should be thrown out on the streets, told to take their luggage and asked to wait on a phone call while they have to bring their kids from A to B not knowing where they’ll end up.
“This Government has failed to acknowledge the seriousness of the crisis and they have failed to direct sufficient resources and funding into combatting homelessness.
“Services are struggling to keep up with the demand for emergency places and follow-on placements, including independent-living housing.
“It’s a national scandal.
?
When contacted by Northside People a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said it wasn’t in a position to comment on individual cases.
“The Dublin local authorities only use hotels as a last resort, especially for families, so as to avoid the experience of rough sleeping,
? the spokesperson stated.
According to DCC figures there were 131 adults with child dependants resident in hotels last December.
“We have and will be putting in extra staff resources to respond to the needs of families in hotels,
? the spokesperson added.
“We provide in-reach support via the Homeless Action Team (HAT), a dedicated children and families team that works to progress these households on as soon as possible.
“We will be establishing additional supported accommodation for families, as we don’t see hotel use as a sustainable solution.
?
DCC said the vast majority of families now presenting to homeless services are coming from the private rental sector with rent supplement arrangements.