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9 June 2014

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Homeless accommodation – young mother faced with 'bloodstained mattress and stench of urine’

Bloodstained mattress in council homeless accommodation


NEWLY-ELECTED Councillor Chris Curran has called for an urgent review of homeless accommodation in the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown Council area after a young mother’s complaint that she was faced with a bloodstained mattress and the stench of urine in one of the shelters used by the council.

Curran, who is also the chairperson of DLR Housing Action Group, was contacted by a mother of two young children who had been forced to move into the homeless unit last week.

Chris Curran said:

“When I arrived, I found the mother visibly and understandably upset. The stench of urine had a nauseating effect that made me almost retch. I was outraged to find a badly bloodstained mattress in the bedroom more reminiscent of tenement times.

“The mother told me that this was a better mattress to the one produced earlier by the official.

“The council fund these operations and the service provided seems to fall well below a standard of accommodation to facilitate children.

“I would challenge any councillor in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown to bring their families and live in the facility for a week.

"People end up in homeless accommodation for all sorts of reasons. It could happen to any of us over the period of a couple of pay packets.

“One of my immediate priorities will be to get a review of homeless shelters in the borough onto the agenda and to ensure a reasonable standard of accommodation for the most vulnerable in our society. When faced with these conditions, one could easily deduce that the society doesn’t care when in fact its simply a case of poor governance.”

Curran also criticised Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan’s ‘master plan’ to end homelessness by 2016.

“Try telling a homeless mother concerned about the welfare of her children that things will be okay in a couple of years.

“This issue is happening now and requires immediate action backed up by adequate resources.”

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