‘Pressure’ on emergency housing in Louth impacting domestic violence victims

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

A victim of domestic violence was unable to access emergency accommodation through Louth County Council’s housing section, a Dundalk councillor revealed.

The woman has since been referred to a local women’s refuge in what the council described as “a particularly unfortunate case.”

Cllr. Sionainn McCann told the September meeting of Louth County Council that she had been contacted by a woman who was discharged from hospital. She was facing a domestic violence situation within her home, but wasn’t housed in emergency accommodation because she was part of a tenancy.

Cllr. McCann queried the restrictions around who will be allocated housing in an emergency situation.

"Is there a policy around this? We really need to look at it again, especially when we are dealing with someone who has all the evidence, medical reports, and garda reports, to be eligible.”

Cllr McCann added that the woman’s home was not safe for her to return to and she was “a little disappointed with the council’s response in this situation, saying: “She shouldn’t have to be housed by Women’s Aid.”

The councillor queried why this lady was referred to another service, “which is almost always at capacity.”

Director of Services, Ger Murphy told the meeting that there was “a lot of pressure” on emergency accommodation. “There are only a certain number of places we have, and there are a range of circumstances involved in every case.”

He said it was a “particularly unfortunate case” adding that the homeless team do work with women’s refuges in Dundalk and Drogheda in instances like this. He understood that the case had been resolved.

"It’s a difficult area, and there is a huge variance in terms of cases, but the team try to work as best they can with the people who present to them.”