A young married couple in their 20s from Dublin have been living in their car for more than three weeks in West Dublin, after their rent was disgracefully put up 50%.
The disgraceful move by their landlord has left Ciara and Shane Dwyer homeless as they can not afford the rent. They were living in rented accommodation in Jobstown which was originally €700 a month but it has now been increased to €1050 a month.
They say they are both unemployed, and qualify for a rent allowance of €540 euro a month but say they cannot find anywhere else they can afford.
Ciara told the press that they have been sleeping in a tiny 2001 Nissan Micra for more than three weeks. She said: “It’s horrible, I’m embarrassed, I’m ashamed,” she said. “I thought we had people we could turn to, but we don’t.
“The homeless unit have nowhere to put us up, and we can’t get another rented house. Ciara went onto say that living in the car has been very difficult. “It’s tiny, it’s cold, you get sore lungs because you’re trying to knock on and off the heating, but it’s just the way we have to live now.”