Child may lose gifted school place as eviction looms

An 11-year-old boy about to be evicted from his home in Blanchardstown has been accepted to the Centre for Talented Youth in Dublin City University.

Aaron Murray has been offered a place in the course for gifted children, but mum Lorraine fears they might be made homeless before the April start date.

“We’ve been in the same house in Blanchardstown for the last eight years,” said Lorraine, a mother of six. “Last year the landlord said the house was going to be re- possessed so he needed to increase the rent by nearly €600 a month. We just can’t afford that increase.”

The family live in a small three-bed house which is “riddled with damp” and has no washing machine.

“The walls of the house are covered in mould,” said Lorraine. “We can’t keep clothes in the house because the mould eats through them. It’s riddled with damp. I used to get bleach and clear off the mould in the kids’ room, but now it won’t budge, it’s turning black and the kids have to go to hospital all the time.”

Aaron shares a room with his brothers as Lorraine and partner Denis sleep in a box room out the front.

“We sleep in the front room because the windows don’t close properly and we’re worried that burglars could just push the windows in,” she said.

Despite the perpetual fear of eviction, Aaron scored off the chart on his Sten test, which compares students to the rest of the population.

“The teachers already knew he was good but when they did the Sten test, they said he got everything right. After that, he did the DCU test in 2014, where he got accepted for the programme the school paid for. We were so proud,” Lorraine said.

In 2015, Aaron got accepted to DCU again but his baby brother Jason, one, was diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus which led to a series of hospitalisations.

“Jason was in hospital five times last year,” said Lorraine. “The consultants say it’s because of the damp and have written to Fingal County Council about it. It was heartbreaking for us because we were so worried about Jason and couldn’t bring Aaron to his course.”

The family were served with an eviction notice in December but have remained in the house, as they are worried they will be separated.

“We are worried they will break us up and move us far away from the kids’ school,” Lorraine said. “We have to send back the form to DCU by March 18 but we don’t know where we’re going to be and we don’t have money to insure or tax the car. The reality is we might not be able to bring Aaron to DCU and that is breaking my heart. I want my little boy to have a chance.”