Homeless family in hotel quarters have no choice but to buy take-away food due to lack of cooking facilities
By Mary Dennehy
A HOMELESS family living in a local hotel since June is spending around €150 a week on take-away food due to an absence of cooking and fridge facilities.
For the past seven months, a Clondalkin mother, father and their three children have been living in a hotel room in South County Dublin, which, fitted with three double beds, has no fridge or cooking facilities or food storage.
Wishing to remain unnamed, the mother told The Echo how the family has no option but to buy takeaway food every evening for dinner, a situation which is not just costing the family around €25 a day but also costing their health.
The mother said: “We were living in my home in Clondalkin for the past five years when the rent went up by €200 a month, which we just couldn’t afford.
“We’ve been living in the hotel now since June and while I appreciate having a roof over my head, the quality of living is not suitable for a family with three young kids.
“We have no cooking facilities and can’t even store milk in the room.
“Every evening we have no option but to buy takeaway food, which is costing us around €150 per week and is far from healthy.”
The family were recently put in touch with VISIT, a community-led soup kitchen in Tallaght, which also provides food to families living across the area which are struggling to feed themselves.
“Last week, volunteers from VISIT brought a home-cooked, Sunday dinner to the hotel for us,” the Clondalkin mam said.
“It was the first home-cooked, family meal we have had since June and it meant the world to us.
“VISIT has also invited us to the free Christmas lunch in Tallaght Adventure World on Christmas Day and volunteers have encouraged us to let other families in the hotel know.
“I told one mother living in the hotel and she broke down in tears. This means a lot to families living in hotels this Christmas, many of us feel like we have been forgotten about.”
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