Teresa Ward, a mother of ten children was left with no water or electricity after her landlord had his providers cut them off in an attempt to get her to vacate the property just 13 days before Christmas.
Teresa Ward moved into her home in Castletown, Drumcliffe, Co. Sligo in June last year with her six children ranging from 9 – 18 years of old.
Teresa Said “Everything was fine when we first moved in. He knew how many children I was going to have living with me, he commented about how the fields outside would be good for them and he choose us to be the family that he was going to let live here.
But everything change as soon as we start getting visitors, that’s when he must have realised we are travellers and wanted us out”.
Her landlord served her with an insufficient notice to vacate the property giving her numerous of reasons why she was being evicted including he was building on a new roof and when he had it completed he was going to let them move back in, he was selling the house and that his son and his girlfriend where getting married and wanted the house for themselves.
But when she didn’t leave it resulted in him getting his providers to come while Teresa dropped her children to school and cut the electricity and water off so her and her six children had no other choice but to leave.
But Teresa says “There is nowhere for us to go. We can’t just pack up and leave it’s not that simple”.
Teresa’s son Stephen came to a near death experience almost four years ago from Stevens–Johnson syndrome, a life-threatening skin condition, in which cell death causes the epidermis to separate from the dermis and skin. A hypersensitivity complex that affects the mucous membranes. It was a result of an allergic reaction to antibiotics and epilepsy drugs that he had been prescribed and he was left in Crumlin Children’s Hospital for almost 4 weeks fighting for his life. He has also been diagnosed with Autism, asthma and ADHD but is very limited to what medicines he can have, so getting sick for him isn’t as easy as it would for a healthy boy.
Teresa’s daughter Amy is also epileptic, has asthma and has previously had Cranial surgery in which she still attends Temple Street Children’s Hospital now for.
The mother of ten and her six children who live with her are currently on day FIVE without any electricity or water and have resulted in cooking food on a fire outside to survive.
Teresa told me “We had a fire last night and our landlord who lives behind us called the Gardai on us. When they came they told me that they couldn’t deprive me of feeding my kids and let me continue to cook our dinner”
She added “Everything is defrosted and starting to go off. My whole Christmas dinner and food shopping is ruined and I don’t know what well do for Christmas with no electricity or water. We are freezing and starving and I just cannot believe he could leave the children like this at Christmas. He lives us behind us so the thought of him watching us suffer makes it even worse”.
Since receiving an insufficient eviction notice Teresa has contacted her local Council, PRTB and Focus Ireland and despite their best efforts they have been able to do nothing for her or her family and it will likely remain that way until after Christmas.
As a final attempt for someone to help her Teresa has took to Facebook but still nothing has changed and her and her children face another freezing cold night, with their bellies hungry and no hope for what tomorrow has in store for them.