Homeless family with baby sleeping in car

A young man, left wheelchair bound following a brutal machete attack, says that he, his pregnant wife and their baby boy are sleeping in 
their car as they desperately search for a place to call 
home.

In what is a tragic case, mirroring the worst of homeless crisis nationally, Oliver Doran's mother Sally is also facing the prospect of being left without a roof over her head. Currently being moved from one emergency accommodation location to another, Sally told The Anglo-Celt she can't sleep at night knowing Oliver (18), his wife Kathleen, who is due to give birth next month, and their 13-month-old son Patrick are sleeping rough.
'If they don't accommodate my son, there's no point in accommodating me. I wouldn't be able to go and lie on a bed at night knowing my son and his family have nothing; less than nothing, out on the street. I couldn't do that to them,' says Sally, fighting back the tears. 'It's breaking my heart.'
Ideally, Sally wishes for a home capable of accommodating all her children, including Oliver and his family, as well as two younger siblings, who are both of school-going age.
The Dorans, who are members of the Travelling Community, found themselves in this predicament after they had to vacate their previous accommodation. They are on Cavan County Council's housing list.
'The council was aware that I was there 'til August and I had no place to go after that. We stayed as long as we could there, I kept paying rent, and I met with the Council. I've now ended up in this B&B, as an emergency for me, but they're looking to move me now. I'm at my wits' end, I'm 50 years of age. I've a big family of children, one of them is doing the Leaving Cert. I do my best by them but I can't do this no more,' says Sally.
Their case has been highlighted by Thomas Maughan of the Cavan Traveller Movement, who joined local members of the People Before Profit political movement in advocating for more social housing on the steps of Cavan Courthouse on Monday afternoon last.
The protest coincided with elected members arriving to attend their monthly Council meeting.
'You hear these kinds of stories every day of the week, and you maybe ask 'is it made up?', but here is a true life story about homelessness and a family being left without a roof over their head,' Mr Maughan told the Celt.

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'We are asking the Council to do something, not just for Sally and Oliver, but for every person facing homelessness in Co Cavan tonight,' he said.
Oliver's situation is made all the more pressing given that he discharged himself from hospital after being severely injured by a gang of four men armed with machetes in an incident that's alleged to have occurred outside of the county. Now in a wheelchair and displaying stitches to his hand and arm, both of which are now in cast, Oliver told the Celt he could not stay in hospital while his wife and child were out on the streets.
'They tried to chop off my hands and my legs. I don't know who they were or why they did it.
'We've been living in a car the past week. We're not doing good at all, I never thought I'd see myself or any of mine in this sort of position,' says Oliver.
Since finding themselves homeless, Oliver himself has dramatically lost weight, a stone and half in the past month alone, as he struggles to provide, not only for baby Patrick but the expectant Kathleen as well.
'I'm in no fit state now to get up and go around looking for a place because I'm now in a wheelchair. I can't use my hand at the minute and I might lose the use of my foot,' Oliver adds.
As much out of concern for her own well-being as that of her son and family, the situation is also impacting Sally's health. She has been hospitalised twice since the end of October suffering from the stress, and she says the prospect of homelessness is severely affecting her mental health also.
'I've never been through anything like this in my life, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. I'm not looking for a mansion, just a roof over myself and my children's heads, somewhere to send them to school from, feed them a bit of hot dinner. It's not much to ask I don't think.'
Cavan County Council was contacted for a statement in relation to the Dorans' case but at the time of going to print had not yet responded.