A Cork mother has spoken of being forced out of her home and into emergency accommodation in Kinsale because all other options in the city were gone.

Stephanie and her three children were evicted from their home in the city last week after living there for almost a decade.

While she paid her rent on time the landlord cited upgrades in his eviction notice which was upheld.

The family has been moved to emergency accommodation in Kinsale at a cost of €3,500 for two weeks.

Stephanie, who has a part-time job in the city, will have to rely on public transport to get there from Kinsale.

All of her children are in school in the city including her eldest who is preparing for the Junior Certificate exams.

Speaking to The Echo, Stephanie described the situation as “horrible”.

“We tried to get somewhere close to the city but they couldn’t find anywhere.

“It’s been really hard on the kids, we had to give up our dog for a while as well because we can’t have him in emergency accommodation.

“I’ve been stressing out, having panic attacks and not sleeping,” she added.

“I’m hoping to get accommodation closer to the city after the two weeks because the kids need to be able to go to school and I need to be able to work.

“The bus will end up costing a bomb from Kinsale every day and we’ve had to uproot our whole lives.” 

Stephanie revealed she has been on the council housing list for more than 10 years and has been unsuccessful in a number of attempts to access housing.

Cllr Thomas Gould (SF) told The Echo that “a number of families” were made homeless in Cork city last week and had nowhere to turn to within the city as all emergency accommodation was full.

“It’s a crazy situation paying this money to house a family for two weeks when there are houses lying idle across the city that need just a bit of work,” said Cllr Gould, who said the council needs to develop these properties.

“A lot of houses could be refurbished with the money being paid to hotels and B&Bs.

“There are more than 100 derelict sites across the city but instead of making these fit for living in, thousands are being spent on emergency accommodation,” he added.

“We need to develop these derelict sites and build more houses.

“There’s no emergency accommodation, hotels or B&Bs, available in Cork city at the moment and it will be the same across the county when the summer comes and all the hotels and B&Bs are booked out,” he warned.

Cork City Hall’s Housing and Community Directorate said the council is “unable to comment or give any details on an individual case such as this.”