High Court gives Limerick family leave to challenge council’s homelessness decision

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The High Court gave a family of five leave to challenge Limerick County Council’s decision that they were not homeless. They are seeking to have the September 3, 2025 decision quashed and to be declared in need of emergency accommodation. The proceedings were reported on December 8, 2025.

The family live in a caravan near Limerick’s Dock Road without running water or a toilet. Their barrister, Michael Kinsley, told the court that the family had three young children. The family appealed the council’s decision but had received no response.

The court heard that the family could not take up an offer of temporary accommodation in April 2020 because of safety fears concerning alleged criminal threats against the father in the proposed area. In February 2024, they refused an offer of a Co Limerick house because they were concerned about getting their children to school and creche from the location and about antisocial behaviour in the area. The report said the family claimed the council’s homeless action team subsequently told them that, because of the refusals, they were not entitled to service.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons granted the ex parte application, at which only one side was represented, and adjourned the matter to January. The challenge had not yet been decided.