A LIMERICK man who turned down an offer of a local authority house in the city for his family because, he claims, it would make him a target is now in a hotel room with his wife and four children.
Keith McMahon has shown the Limerick Post a letter from Limerick City and County Council confirming that he first applied for local authority housing on January 18, 2003.
He is open about the fact that he served a sentence for manslaughter when he was 18 years old.
After the private landlord of the home the family had been living in for the past 11 years gave them notice to quit by the end of February, Keith pressed his family’s case with Limerick Council.
“Our landlord was willing to get involved with the Tenant in Situ scheme, but I was told that there was no money for it,” he says.
“Then we got a letter saying they (the Council) had a house to offer us in Castletroy. We were very happy with that, but then, we were told that was a mistake and the house they were actually offering us was in Ballinacurra Weston.”
The Limerick Post has seen the letter of offer, listing a property in Newtown Meadows, Castletroy, as the subject of the Council’s offer, although the heading on the same letter mentions a property In Ballinacurra Weston – an area where he claims he was previously attacked and stabbed.
The couple’s children are aged between 11 and 15 years and one has a serious physical disability, which was the subject of a medical consultant’s recommendation that the family be urgently housed, he told this newspaper.
As of this week, the family of six have had to leave their privately rented accommodation and are living in a hotel.
Ironically, Keith is a volunteer who helps provide meals for homeless people and people in need in Limerick.
As a part-time worker, he says it is impossible for his family to afford a house at current rent in the city.
“Our landlord was a decent man. He hadn’t even asked for a rent increase for years. But, even if I worked full-time and all the hours in the day, we couldn’t afford the rents they’re asking now,” Keith told the Limerick Post, adding that “it’s not just about our family – it’s about the thousands of families who are facing homelessness”.
When asked for comment, Limerick City and County Council said it does not comment on individual cases.
It is public record of Council policy that if a person on the housing list refuses a reasonable offer of accommodation, the local authority does not have to make another offer and the individual becomes the responsibility of the Homeless Action Team.
It is not the local authority’s policy to deny housing to a person with a criminal record a place on the housing list.