Colman Noctor: Children living in mica houses need a safe place to call home

Children from the affected families worry the walls will cave in on top of them as they sleep 

Picture: iStock 

‘Home is where the heart is’, ‘there’s no place like home’, and ‘a roof over our heads’ are all well-known phrases. But do we truly understand the importance of these sayings to our emotional wellbeing?

Campaigner for the homeless Fr Peter McVerry once explained to me how the profile of a homeless person is often misunderstood. Though the homeless person is often depicted as someone with chronic addiction issues, unkempt and sitting on the ground in the street with a paper cup in their hands, this is not representative of homelessness in Ireland in 2021. Instead, homeless people now include whole families who have no means of paying the exorbitant rental rates and who cannot secure affordable or social housing. Christmas reminds us of this reality and, in the words of a famous festive song, ‘Tonight thank god it's them, instead of you’.