Mum-of-three facing no home in just ten days

Just ten days before the end of the eviction ban, a mother-of-three facing life on the streets has said she ‘can’t stop crying’’ Lisa Brady, 32, and her three sons – aged 11, seven and four – are facing into the unknown when the ban ends on April 1.

The desperate mother was served notice to quit her home in Cherry Orchard, west Dublin, in April last year and has been unable to source a suitable alternative since. Lisa, pictured, claims she has even been told that emergency accommodation is not a guarantee.

She told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘I am here where I have lived for 11 years and I just can’t stop crying right now. I am trying to keep it together for my kids but it is just so, so tough. ‘I walk by all these boarded up houses and I just think “why can’t I live there?” I’ll fix it up myself. I’m so stressed. I’m on medication for anxiety. I don’t know where to turn.’

Ms Brady said she worries where she might end up if she has to accept emergency accommodation far away from where she and her family have put down roots.

Lisa Brady (31) at her home in Ballyfermot. Pic: Fran Veale

She said: ‘It might be the case that we will have to move somewhere far away and that my kids will be uprooted and away from their friends. ‘I, myself, have my own support structure here as well so moving to the other side of the county or down the country has its own problems.’

Ms Brady said she has been on the housing list for 11 years. She explained: ‘My children are worried about it. The eldest is 11 so he understands a bit of what’s going on. You try to prepare them as best you can.’ Ms Brady said she has had repeated meetings with the council about her living situation.

But the stress of the situation is something which the young mother is finding difficult to cope with. She said: ‘I just feel like such a big failure. People are saying it’s not my fault but it’s hard not to be hard on yourself.

Lisa Brady (31) at her home in Ballyfermot. Pic: Fran Veale

I am just keeping my head down and working as hard as I can to get somewhere to stay.’ She said nobody in the immediate area has space for her and her kids when they eventually become homeless.

She said that there is nobody the family can stay with while trying to get a roof back over their heads. She added: ‘I am here just hoping the ban doesn’t end and the Government changes their mind. I don’t have too much hope.’

The Government says it will not consider reintroducing the eviction ban even if there is a spike in homelessness. The Taoiseach previously said: ‘I think what we’d have to do then is step up our activities in other areas – building more social housing, stepping up the work that we do to prevent homelessness.’