Baby twins sleeping in ‘deplorable’ rat-infested conditions, High Court told

Eight-month-old twins have to sleep in Moses baskets in a rat-infested home shared with their Traveller parents and seven young siblings, the High Court was told yesterday.

James O’Reilly SC, counsel for the family, told the court that John and Caroline Sherlock and their nine children had been living in unhealthy, deplorable, and dangerous temporary accommodation at Carrowgar, Lahinch, Co Clare, for the past three years.

Mr Justice Henry Abbott granted the family leave to seek an order directing Clare County Council to provide them with suitable accommodation under the Traveller Accommodation Programme. Judge Abbott also directed the local authority to carry out an assessment of the family’s circumstances.