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BECOMING HOMELESS IS something that is hard to imagine.
This is especially true if you are employed and living what would seem to be a settled, secure life.
This was the case for couple Christine Parnell and Paul Griffin.
Difficulties when Christine became pregnant led to the couple losing their home and depending on temporary accommodation.
Unforeseen difficulties
After becoming pregnant last November, Christine encountered a number of medical complications, which took her away from her work as a child care assistant.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Christine said:
I was having problems in November, and they didn’t know if they had to remove something, but instead they found a baby. That was on 21 November. That was a Friday. By the Tuesday I was back in the hospital.
This began a pattern of having to go in and out of hospital.
I was going in and they were keeping me in for a week, and then I was getting out and then two days later I was going back in with the same problem. I was having threatened miscarriages, I have a low lying placenta, I have pregnancy diabetes, I’ve got low iron levels.
During this period they were living in private rental accommodation as they had been doing for the two years previous.
With Christine out of work, the couple were left to rely on Paul financially.
Losing accommodation
Things then went from bad to worse.
Paul, who had been working as a warehouse operator and is a qualified forklift driver, suffered a serious accident while at work which saw him suffering a grade three (severe) concussion that has left him with lasting injuries.
With Paul unable to work the couple fell into arrears with their landlord and had to leave their home.
This saw them facing a life of moving around unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Despite having numerous medical difficulties, Christine was unable to get the rest that she needed, and was spending as much as 12 hours a day on the streets.
As Paul explains:
The way they see it is that we’re only another statistic to them. We don’t drink, we’re not drug addicts, but we’re still tarred with that brush.
” ‘Ah you’re in Mount Brown – you’ll be grand’, but we were left with Christine walking around for a month from 9am to 9pm – after producing all the medical certificates to say she couldn’t – that it wasn’t fit for her.”
Looking forward to the birth
While their housing situation has been difficult, the couple have had their spirits kept high by the child they were bringing into the world.
“I can’t wait!” Paul says.
Christine’s medical difficulties have meant that on top of their living situation, the pregnancy has been far from smooth sailing.
At 15 weeks, after numerous complications, the couple were told that their child would not make it to full term.
Birth
Despite this, they have thankfully managed to defy expectations.
On 7 May, Christine gave birth to a baby boy called Connor Jaxson who weighed in at 6lb and 2 oz.
Things are still far from certain.
At the time of writing, the couple are in temporary accommodation, with Christine aiming to recover after undergoing a caesarean section procedure.
However, like many others, their situation could change at a moment’s notice, and they remain dependent on council help.
Throughout the pregnancy they have received constant support from homeless charity DePaul Ireland, who have dealt with Dublin City Council on their behalf.
The group offer a range of homeless services across the island of Ireland.
The couple also wanted to express their thanks to Focus Ireland.
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This reads like a press release.
Blackstone. That sounds familiar. Are they the same Blackstone who mercilessly hound people who get behind on the credit card payments? Perhaps after they spend too much in retail establishments?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Athens end of the day if you can’t afford to pay it back, don’t get the credit card
110 shoplifting day till Christmas.
@Pat Troy: So you’re counting down the days until you can go shoplifting? Okaaaay.
I live right beside the center. It’s a bit Looney traffic wise on busy days alright but tons of parking etc. Great news that there may be up to 6000 jobs ! There is a new bridge approved and being built soon which will overhaul the traffic flows on the M3 approach so that’s a good thing for both local business and the center ! Welcome to B-Town !
Maybe they’ll finally put in a few toilets
@JohnBeeRyan: theres pretty large toilets on both levels in the main centre ? I presume you mean more toilets ?? , id prefer they spend a few quid on the approach roads entry / exit they are way too bottlenecked and coming and going can be a shambles if its at all busy.
@Dave Hammond: too bottlenecked? As in the is a such thing as a right amount of bottlenecked?
Awful news, this will be a serious threat to the smaller shopping centres in the region.
@alphanautica: hmm I fail to see how adding more retail and jobs to the general area is awful news , the centre attracts massive amount of people from many surrounding counties into the area , it is far better to see retail being expanded than migrating online which is a far bigger commercial threat to the other shopping centres you mention.
@alphanautica: its great news! Jobs will be created, there will be more choice for shoppers and the smaller centres will need to up their standards fo stay relevant.. long overdue! Roselawn Shopping Centre, for example, is atrocious!
@alphanautica: which shopping centres specifiically?
More traffic from lunatic shoppers as if it wasnt already bad enough…roll on next recession
This is not a good news story, yes the construction jobs is great of course but the retail jobs will just be taking from other locations be that locally or city centre. There is a finite amount of money to go around all these retail units. The planners need to look at this effect it happened in Naas they build a centre outside the town and the life is sucked out of the town itself now just lots of empty units.
There shouldn’t be any expansion allowed at blanch until the approach and exit ways from the town centre are updated and improved. Extra Parking needs to be looked at in a big way also. Every bank holiday weekend, christmas, new year sales, etc etc. Security staff block cars leaving giving priority to cars entering. In effect this means cars have to circle for half an hour or so to find a parking space. The whole surrounding area becomes one big parking lot. Nothing moves. I lived next door for 10 years so I know all about it. Only in Ireland would this be allowed. But Hey lets build more shops and outlets to satisfy some developers greed who also happens to give a few political donations. Don’t mind about the serfs. Don’t put in any pre-conditions that just might make things work better or might also affect their bottom line. We can’t have that. Politicians just make plenty of big empty promises come each election and once they’re in, they’re untouchable for 5 years and the pensions guaranteed, so business as usual. Meanwhile Leo employs a high profile PR firm to do the window dressing.
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