Woman takes High Court action over suspension from housing list

A 66-year-old woman from Co Donegal has initiated High Court judicial review proceedings against Donegal County Council's decision to suspend her from its housing allocation list for one year. The applicant, a member of the Irish Travelling Community, has been on the Council's list since 2003 and sought accommodation in the Bridgend or Burnfoot areas or at a halting site. The Council suspended her application after she refused two offers of single-bedroom houses in Letterkenny, invoking its 2011 Housing Allocation Scheme. The applicant contends the offers were unreasonable given the distance from her requested locations and her specific need for Traveller accommodation. She seeks an order quashing the suspension and declarations that the decision was made without lawful authority, was irrational, and breached her constitutional and human rights protections. Permission for the challenge was granted by Mr Justice Seamus Noonan on an ex-parte basis, with the matter returnable in July.