Cork Circuit Court
This morning.
On Today with Seán O’Rourke, hosted by Katie Hannon, journalist Brian O’Connell reported on repossession cases.
Mr O’Connell said, according to his calculations, there were at least 300 repossession cases in last few days around the country and more to come this week.
On Thursday last, there were about 25 cases in Kerry; 50 in Tipperary; 50 in Athlone last Friday; 35 in Athlone today and more taking place today in Waterford.
Readers may recall how it was reported last month that the Courts Service in Limerick had stopped publishing the dates for home repossession hearings, as a means to prevent courtroom demonstrations by anti-eviction protesters.
During his report, Mr O’Connell explained that he was in Cork Circuit Court on Wednesday last – where there were 52 cases listed – all of which involved a family home.
Mr O’Connell spoke to one woman, whose house is back in positive equity, and who was visibly upset after leaving the court. The arrears of the woman, who has five children, amount to around 30-odd thousand euro.
The woman was just after receiving an adjournment until May when Mr O’Connell spoke to her.
She said:
“I don’t know how it’s going. I’m just hoping and praying that something is going to happen; that I can sort something here…I don’t have Christmas decorations up, I don’t have any Christmas shopping done, I actually, I love Christmas, but I can’t think. You don’t think about anything else, when this is going on. It’s in the back of your head the whole time. You talk to people, you pretend everything is normal, but nothing is. And it’s, it’s like standing on quick sand. You can’t do anything.”
“My marriage broke up, obviously the financial crash, my wages shrank, I actually haven’t had a payrise since 2005, my mortgage is about €800 a month, I’m paying close to €500 a month. You don’t approach the bank anymore, do you understand? You don’t ask questions because you’re afraid to come to their attention. You just want to say quiet and, hopefully, that it’ll just, you can carry on with things for a little bit longer.”
“No, [my children] don’t know the situation. I am in pieces, my health is suffering, I am constantly stressed. I find everything so difficult. They don’t need to live like this. Your kids pick up on things, things are not good but they don’t know. My youngest, the other day, he wanted change for a collection for Focus and he said, ‘Mum, at least we’ll help some homeless person’ and I’m actually thinking ‘that could be you’. And it’s so tough and it’s so hard.”
“And it’s so difficult when you hear all these people saying ‘these people don’t pay their mortgage’. Nobody lives like this, nobody lives under this stress… and I tell you something I can feel my whole body crumbling. I’m so tired, so weary all the time. I’d give anything just to sleep, sleep, just to actually not be thinking constantly, not be worrying constantly. Every decision in your life you’d be thinking [about], your kids’ future, what they’re planning on next year. ‘I have exams this year and am I going to be in my home..my child is in her Leaving Cert..is she going to be in hotel studying?”
“…You were in the court today. Nobody talks, people just come in, they don’t talk to each other or anything. Nobody wants to tell them. I think everybody out there, you may not realise it but you actually know people in this situation. And they’re just going through this. None of my family know I’m here today. They don’t know. Nobody knows I’m here today. And I can’t, I can’t be putting this stress on my family. I know they worry about me, but they don’t, they don’t, they shouldn’t have to take this on aswell.”
“...There’s nobody to talk to, there’s nothing, do you understand? There is nobody who can tell me, it’s…what can they tell me? I can talk to them, I can tell them I’m stressed, I can say I can’t eat properly, I can’t sleep, I cannot live with this uncertainty constantly, I cannot look at my kids and not knowing where they’re going to be if they put me in a hotel. They’re looking at €200 a night to put me in a hotel. The arrears on my house are 30-odd thousand. They’re going to spend over that on me…
Listen back here in full
Previously: Out By Christmas
