The story of a mother and son in Dublin paints a bleak picture of Ireland's often dirty and dangerous homeless accommodation, a special investigation by the Irish Mirror can reveal.
These numbers do not include people sleeping rough on Ireland's streets as the relevant official homeless statistics apparently solely consider those using emergency accommodation in their figures. "My husband had just been released from a two-year prison sentence, and was suffering with depression. He committed suicide in the attic on Easter Sunday morning.
"I went to the council and explained the situation and the man there said 'We can consider you in about ten years' time but for now, you left yourself homeless.' I asked him whether he would be able to stay in his house if his wife took her own life, if his children were thinking about the incident every day.
"I would get a tent and then a couple of friends who were drinkers would say 'stay beside us, we'll keep you safe because you're a woman'. Eddie has been homeless as an adult since his 18th birthday, eight years ago, while Anne has been without a home for 16 years. Placed into accommodation into Dublin city centre, she shared a room with a woman who was a heroin addict using needles beside her. Additionally, the plumbing in their bathroom was backed up to such an extent that any flush of the toilet resulted in faecal matter coming up through the plughole of the shower.
"I'm not looking for a mansion of a room, just something clean and tidy, with someone that I can trust.As a recovering addict, Anne felt at risk of relapse sharing with someone who was using heroin on a daily basis. One of these involved them being attacked just outside the hostel where they were staying by two other service users.
I don't blame them it's safer on the streets than staying in a hostile I will never go back into one because our government doesn't care about our health and safety only what can be done for other countries so they can look after themselves