A family of eight from Ballinasloe, County Galway say they have been forced to live in a one room caravan since losing their rental property of 15 years last February.
Shannon Side News reported that Martin and Margaret Corcoran who have six children aged between 5 and 16 years were made homeless when their landlord sold the property they were living in last year.
The Corcoran’s oldest child sleeps on the floor of the caravan with the family saying that the recent cold weather has made their living conditions increasingly difficult as the caravan has no heating, electricity, or running water.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan show, Martin Corcoran said there had been “no reach out” from Galway County Council “whatsoever” with regard to housing the family.
He spoke of how the family are living in the caravan on a council estate where they have “no family” saying “nobody can help us”.
“All I have is a one bedroom caravan that I got from my uncle,” he said adding “it’s not in the greatest of conditions either,”
He said that the family have “pleaded” with Galway County Council for a 4 bedroom house in Ballinasloe but that “no answer” had been received.
According to Shannon Side the local authority says it “can only place the family in a five-bedroomed house, but said no such property was currently available.”