'After 17 years on housing list, we need a forever home', says Cork woman
Margarita O’Driscoll who is a traveller community health worker in the north Cork area says that she has been on the housing list for almost 17 years.
A Cork activist, who has been on the housing waiting list for 17 years, says getting a council home would allow her to realise her dream of becoming a foster parent.
Margarita O’Driscoll, who is a Traveller community health worker in the north Cork area, is hoping to secure a three-bedroom property to allow her to foster a child in need. “They are crying out for foster parents in Cork so it’s something I’d really like to do. I am giving something back but also getting something back by helping a child.”
The mother-of-one is currently in receipt of HAAP payments and is renting a three-bedroom house in Mallow. However, she said she and her daughter Katieann are in dire need of a “forever home.”
Margarita and Katieann have overcome considerable personal tragedy in the last number of years. Margarita's baby son Donal died in hospital from health complications at just one month old in August 2013. His father Damien, Margarita’s partner, suffered a heart attack while next to her in bed the following June. He was 37 at the time while Margarita was 34.
Margarita became homeless for a time after the tragedy, and was forced to sleep in her car with her young daughter. While their circumstances have since improved, Margarita says a council house would afford them greater security.
“If I want to hang a picture on the wall, I’ll have to ring the landlord because the house doesn’t belong to me.
The 44-year-old says having a home of their own would give her and Katieann more freedom.
“When you are in a council house you are in your forever home. You don’t have to ring anyone if you need to put a lick of paint on the wall. As far as I’m concerned I am in someone else’s home. Sometimes I’ll say 'I’m going home' but this is really only a phrase. I don’t really think of it as my own home.”
The Traveller activist said her daughter has been a pillar of strength for her throughout the ordeal.
“Sometimes you wonder what it is you did wrong in life, but you have to keep going for the sake of your child. If it wasn’t for my daughter I’m not sure where I would be today. She is my rock and the one person who keeps me going. She pulled me through everything and I would be lost without her.”
She said receiving a council house would be like having a weight lifted from her shoulders.
“It would take an awful burden off my back because I’d never have to worry about having to leave. I see friends of mine getting council houses and I’m delighted for them but at the back of my mind it is difficult to know that we are still waiting.
Some 6,926 people were on Cork County Council’s housing waiting list at the end of last year. A total of 4,251 of these were existing tenants requesting transfers.
A total of 2,836 people on the list were in South Cork, with 2,215 in North Cork, and 1,875 in West Cork.
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