Pregnant mother and her six children forced out by bank
By Laura Lyne
A MOTHER of six children who is currently pregnant with her seventh child has said that her family has “nowhere to go” since their home was put up for auction.
Antoinette Geoghegan and her six children were left homeless on October 31 after the home she was renting in Cushlawn was put up for auction by bank foreclosure.
Antoinette, who was renting the home with the help of rent allowance and was aware that her home would be put up for auction since earlier this year, contacted South Dublin County Council back in April and was told a house was to be made available in Oldcourt, Ballycragh for herself and her children, who are aged between one and 11.
The bank, according to Antoinnette, delayed evicting the family from the home for several months after taking over the house, but the family were forced to leave the home due to the house being put up for auction at the end of October.
Antoinette told The Echo: “I have no home for my kids, we have nowhere to go. My kids are in school in Firhouse and they don’t want to go to school because they are embarrassed to have no home and don’t want the other kids asking about it.
“I have no stable home for them. They’re good kids and I just want to have a house for them to live in.
“I was up with the council all day yesterday [Monday] and they have said that the house is there.
We were told it would be available in April, and then in October and now I’m being told that we just can’t move in due to insurance reasons.”
“I’ve been sick in the hospital worried about this and I don’t want my kids to see how upset I am. I’m currently taking it by the hour. I don’t know if I’ll have somewhere to stay with them tonight.”
Local Sinn Féin TD Sean Crowe told The Echo that Antoinette’s situation is happening across the county due to bank gaining “more power”.
Speaking to The Echo, Deputy Crowe said: “A fear factor has grown over the last three years, when the fear factor should be decreasing.
“In the case of this lady and her children, they’re the ones who are going to suffer and it’s having an impact on them.
“Banks have gotten more power. Initially people weren’t being pursued, but now you’ve got people up in court and facing court cases over repossession. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be affected. These are the families that are falling through the cracks.”
When contacted by The Echo, a spokesman for South Dublin County Council said that there was no insurance issue with the local authority home allocated to the family.
The spokesman said: “We are currently undertaking repair works on the premises and the family will be moved in as soon as they are finished.
“Families becoming homeless due to banks selling houses is just one of a number of ways in which local families are coming to the council for housing support.
“We have to work through all of the cases, and as you know there is a big problem with supply.”
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