A single mum who has been living in a "nightmare of a flat" with her seven-year-old son on the northside of Cork city for three years has told of their daily struggles.
Alina Marinescu, 35, told CorkBeo she was "distraught" and unable to sleep as she talked about the deluge of foul water flooding into her home as the ceiling of her bathroom collapsed.
She said: ""I have twins on the way, they are due next month, my bathroom ceiling collapsed last night and now we have to use the garden to go toilet."
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Mum Alina told how son Tian, is exhausted from the conditions in the apartment. She said Tian had to go to sleep with headphones on, listening to music, while she blocks the front door with a heavy pole, hoping that no one would break through.
"The bathroom ceiling falling down is the latest in a string of incidents that have happened while we have lived at this property," Alina told CorkBeo.
Alina described how in December she and her son would "sit on the kitchen floor and wash ourselves in a basin. We had to use a bucket to go toilet."
Alina said: "The smell has taken over our apartment, and it's made its way to the corridor. Some nights, I can't sleep and wish we could sleep outside. But it's cold, and freezing, and I'm pregnant.
"You expect your home to be a great atmosphere, but I dread it every night. I hate this place so much, but I have nowhere else to go.
"I've been looking for different places, to get out of this nightmare of a place, but there is nothing going. I'm about to have twins in a month, how am I meant to bring newborns into this flat?
"I can't stay calm anymore - I don't think anyone can stay like this. My son's crying and begging for help.
"I heard my bathroom ceiling fall last night (Monday night), it was at around one o'clock in the morning, and everything fell down. I was horrified and in shock."
A Cork City Council spokesperson told CorkBeo: “While Cork City Council does not comment on individual cases, it should be noted that the Council are aware of this case and have already been liaising with parties concerned."
A packed public meeting in Cork last night heard Alina's story, where councillors and activists were concerned for the safety of the pregnant mother as well as her seven-year-old son.
Local Councillor Ted Tynan raised the family's case, which has been ongoing for years, as an example of the circumstances that renters will face when the eviction ban lifts.
The North-East councillor told the room that the woman "cannot get help from the council without notice to quit from her landlord, but that the landlord won't evict her, because they are receiving €900 in Housing Assitance Payment money per month."
"It's the most deplorable living conditions I have seen someone living in a rented apartment," another person who knew Alina's case said.
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