Mother of 10 in four-bedroom home wants council to house some of her adult children
By Brendan Grehan
A LUCAN mother of 10 is at the end of her tether and wants South Dublin County Council to come to her assistance and house some of her adult children.
Winnie O’Donnell lives with her husband, Martin and their 10 children and five grand-children in their house at Tor An Rí Lane, Balgaddy Lane, Lucan.
They have lived in the four-bedroomed house for the last nine years, but Winnie feels that it is now overcrowded and is a fire hazard.
Just before Christmas, due to overcrowding, Winnie’s daughter, Winnie and her two children left the house. Winnie Jnr bought a caravan with a loan from a moneylender and moved it into the front garden.
Martin and one of their adult children is on disability allowance. The rest of the adult children are in receipt of social welfare.
Winnie Snr told The Echo: “I’m at my wit’s end. The house is overcrowded and is a fire hazard. I kicked my daughter Winnie out before Christmas and she went to the council. They told her to go to the homeless section and gave her a number to ring.
Winnie then got a loan from a moneylender and bought a caravan. She’s paying the moneylender back now €100 a week. If Winnie was to stay in a hotel it would cost the council hundreds and hundreds a week. I would rather they house her.”
Winnie Snr says that there are two abandoned houses in the estate but she says SDCC has told her they can’t do anything.
She says that the rest of her adult children are going to go to SDCC to look for housing as the house is just too small for their needs.
Winnie Snr said: “My husband is very ill. He needs his own room. All the kids are going to go down and put themselves on the housing list this week”.
The Echo contact-ed SDCC for a comment but they did not respond before the paper went to print.
READ MORE…
