RTÉ News on Twitter: Video Interview: Micheline Walsh, a 78-year-old woman who is three weeks away from being made homeless, has said she faces moving into hostel accommodation with her husband, who needs constant care after having a stroke

24 comments

  1. Not to be rude but they didn’t give a shit about young people who were getting ill living in cars because of no accommodation, or the 30-40 year olds being forced to live with parents and so unable to start a family, or the families left homeless by the eviction ban being lifted. Why would they start now?

  2. The Housing Crisis is an absolute shitshow and the elderly, if not the entire population, should have access to secure affordable housing.

    However, I think the lad beside her is her son in law (I know the SIL was involved in the original story) – he’s a professor in UCD. Surely they or someone else in the family can put them up for an interim period instead of a hostel? I know i’d probably kip on the sofa for a while if one of my parents was in need of a place to stay.

    Also, I am not trying to say the long term solution is everyone sleeping on sofas, clearly we need more affordable housing.

    EDIT: If it is a case that staying with her family short term makes her lose her place on a list then the system is an absolute shambles.

  5. Is it a prerequisite to be a soulless husk before becoming a landlord, or does becoming a landlord simply strip you of a soul over time?

  7. I wonder will there be a post 4 weeks from now about her assimilating into the hostel community. I would be sceptical

  9. As another commenter said, there were plenty young people living out of cars or hostels and no one cared. The older generation have voted this crap in.

    In this society they have voted in, that’s what they have decided. Why is it now an abomination?
    It was always a stain on our humanity that people went cold and hungry on our streets.

  10. There will be a story in the Independant two weeks from now about how the elderly are embracing communal living. There will be coloured photos of elderly people from all cultures in a spacious room full of bunkbeds with an acoustic guitar in the corner, nice big windows and sunny weather outside. Few beanbags for the lads who want to change up where they sit.

  11. Some people in this country rented in the private sector all their lives because they are snobs and would not apply for local authority housing. That is coming back to bite them now in their old age.

  13. Should just live with her family. There’s thousands of twenty something year olds living with their families that they don’t want to be doing, but they don’t get the platform of national radio to claim homelessness. Pure ageism. Poor life choices by not insuring your future, stop blaming others.

  14. this country needs change seriously. our government needs to be overthrown. I don’t care if I get downvoted for saying that. each and every one of those scumbags responsible for this country’s shit show need to be brought to court and imprisoned.

    they’re not just gonna change themselves. they’re not gonna sit back one day and be like “oh lads we’ve fucked the country I think we should fix it” that will never happen.

    it’ll happen one or another eventually. a boiling pot eventually boils over.

  15. Sorry to say, this lady and her Professor son-in-law are not gonna get the sympathy they expect. Her generation extended no sympathy to my generation and it’s now biting them in the arse. And onward the vicious cycle goes until some real change happens in Ireland.

  16. Lads I dont think yous realize how much of a cunt this lady’s son-in-law, Professor David Farrell must be. Shame on the son-in-law for not taking them in even if it’s long-term and for making a media circus to prove a point.

    He’s a “Professor of” and for those not in the know that means he is on the highest paygrade of all the professors with lifetime job security. I know academia doesn’t pay like industry but **he’s still on between 125k to 165k with lifetime job security**. [Scales linked here](https://www.ucd.ie/hr/pay/payscales/). I work in academia and I know well why he won’t take them in. It wouldn’t suit the usual professorial lifestyle and that’s the problem. Professors live a jet-setting lifestyle to conferences all expenses paid, fancy dinners ect. He should build a cabin out his back like all the normal people in Ireland have to do for his in laws. Do what the Italians do and look after your elders. Prof. Farrell is a pompous prat!!!

  17. I am frankly disgusted at how much sympathy this woman has garnered from the generations that not only enabled, but still activy support, and in the next election will vote to continue fucking over every person born after 1980 on this exact same issue.

    She and her husband have done nothing wrong and I do feel bad for her, but I almost want to slap someone – anyone – out of sheer frustration about how quick so, so many have been to suddenly care after years and years of this for 20, 30 and 40 something – and their young children.

  19. This is why you should never listen to people who say “Irish people are obsessed with owning property, in Europe everybody rents”.

    Our whole approach to old age in this country is premised on owning a property outright by that stage.

  20. These fuckers in government created generation rent( a not so proud member). They don’t care about you , me or anyone else that doesn’t donate to their parties. Most people that vote for FF & FG don’t care either Just like the comfortable ff/fg voting home owners don’t give a fuck that irish people are going homeless while there are people claiming asylum from safe countries who get more help from the government.
    The country is gone backwards . So willing to help everyone else around the world for a few Facebook likes while Ireland it’s going asunder for working class people.

  21. In the 1930/40/50s, decades of recession, we were building homes for our people. In the 1970s the men in suits took over, public social housing was sold, no plans for rebuilding, everyone told they deserved a mortgage. Meanwhile Europe had/has a system of home rental, Germany was 70%, now 60%, where the renter is protected.
    We all need housing, we should build on that theory.
    Anyone blaming asylum seekers, we’ve exported more of our own, than we’ve taken in, by at least a factor of ten, so how bad could it have been?

  22. Where is the outrage and disgust for the 20’s , 30’s and 40 year olds who face the same problem as this person? Is it because she likely votes FFG or is elderly we’re supposed to show sympathy but the 4000 homeless children we won’t speak up about in the same manner?

Leave a Reply