*The case was before The High Court.
A CLARE family has failed in their High Court bid to force Clare County Council to provide them with emergency accommodation after turning down six offers of houses by the local authority.
This week, Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger ruled that Clare County Council had lawfully discharged its statutory duties in relation to the provision of emergency accommodation to the family, including seven children. The judge further stated that the family are not entitled to require the Council to offer them emergency accommodation from housing stock earmarked for social housing.
Martina Sherlock Mongans and her seven children, who are members of the Travelling Community brought proceedings against Clare County Council, the Minister for Housing, Ireland and Attorney General asserting that they should be allocated emergency accommodation in a three bedroom house which is part of the Council’s social housing stock. The family now live in a single room in a relative’s house.
Judge Bugler described the current situation where the family are living in one room of a relations house as “appalling”. She added, “I have found that the Council acted reasonably and lawfully in the six separate offers of emergency accommodation made to them, I cannot find their circumstances to be so exceptional as to merit a departure from the normal rules or an interference by this court in the exercise of the Council’s discretion”.
In July 2024, the family were evicted from their rented Council house in Lahinch and deemed homeless by the Council with hotel accommodation arranged for a number of weeks from July 31st, 2024.
Since August 2024, six different own door accommodation have been offered as emergency accommodation and had been refused for various reasons including concerns about safety, suitability and distance from the children’s schools, Judge Bugler outlined when setting the background to the case.
She said it is surprising that this “entirely unsatisfactory arrangement prevails in preference to the six houses offered to the family,” but she said perhaps this is indicative of how strongly the family feel about the conditions and location of each of the houses offered. The judge said the family had not established any cause of action or grounds for leave against the State parties.
Ms Justice Bolger said the family wanted accommodation in either Ennistymon or Lahinch, largely because of one of their children’s educational needs. The judge said she was satisfied that Clare County Council assessed the particular needs of the family in a manner that was reasonable, rational and lawful in offering them six of the accommodations. The judge said that in effect the family had asserted a right to emergency accommodation in a house that the Council has earmarked for social housing on the basis of exceptional circumstances in which they are currently living.
The family’s refusal of six separate offers of reasonable own door accommodation, even though they considered them to be unsuitable for their family’s needs had the consequence that the family are no longer homeless within the meaning of the Housing Act, the judge noted. The family the judge said are not entitled to require the Council to offer them emergency accommodation from housing stock earmarked for social housing
“The family are living and extremely difficult circumstances and no one could be anything but sympathetic and concerned at that. However they do not have rights over and above what is provided for in legislation or any enhanced rights to determine subjectively what is or is not a reasonable accommodation for them,” the judge said.
When approached for comment on the High Court outcome by The Clare Echo, a spokesperson for Clare County Council said, “We must decline your invitation to comment, as is our policy, we do not comment on individual cases”.
