'We have nowhere to go in less than six weeks':

Tue, 21 Mar, 2023 - 19:28

Elaine Whelan

SOCIAL justice organisation Uplift.ie has created a new campaign to illustrate how may renters are facing eviction if the Dáil votes to end the eviction ban.

Since its recent creation, 30 Cork people have shared their stories on the Eviction Map as they live in fear of becoming homeless.

One Cork man, Gary shared his story in the new campaign: “Me and my wife have been renting over 50 years combined. Since first having kids, we have been evicted twice in three years — the first time illegally. We have nowhere to go in less than 6 weeks.”

Lorraine from Youghal said she faces possible eviction and described her situation of being a “single parent of a daughter with ASD and a 17-year-old Leaving Cert age daughter”.

“Myself and my son are being evicted from our rented accommodation of 15 years in July. It is very stressful and upsetting as so far we have been looking for another place for 7 months without any luck,” said renter Pia.

Many other renters took to the map to share that they have had many sleepless nights terrified that they and their families will end up on the street if the Government votes to end the ban on evictions.

“The map shows stories from people all around Ireland who are worried about evictions. We need this Government to see the scale of this problem and how many people are affected,” said Uplift.ie director Siobhán O’Donoghue, who urged others to share their stories to the map.

Each of Cork’s Government TDs is mentioned by name in the statement issued by Uplift.ie. Once the result of the vote becomes known after, the map will feature the votes of local TDs in each constituency.

“In the Dáil on Wednesday, TDs have a choice to keep people in their homes by voting to extend the eviction ban or they can decide to throw them to the wolves,” said Ms O’Donoghue.