‘All I want is for somewhere to put my head at night’

Joe Mulvaney (53), a former chef in Bewley’s cafe in Dublin and in several city centre hotels, has been looking for somewhere to rent for almost a year. With the lease on his current home due to expire in two weeks, he faces homelessness.

“I have been looking for anywhere in Dublin and getting nothing. We had this three-bedroom house in Drimnagh, me with two other lads, for €1,600 a month. But the landlord has two daughters [who] are going to college, so he needs it for them.

“The other lads — one moved in with family and the other has found a place with friends. They’re working.

“My problem is, I am on disability allowance. As soon as you mention social welfare or HAP [Housing Assistance Payment] landlords seem to lose interest.”

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Approved for HAP by Dublin City Council, Mulvaney is entitled to a home with a rent up to €1,350 a month, to which he would contribute based on his income.

I was looking on rent.ie this morning. A double bedroom in a house-share was €1,150 a month. A single room was €900. Apartments are about €1,800 for one bedroom. Two bedrooms are about €2,200

He explains he was in a motorbike accident several years ago. “I broke my wrist in three places, snapped a tendon in my thumb. My kneecap smashed. I have two screws holding my ankle together. I ended up with sciatica.

“I can’t use my left thumb, so it’s impossible for me to chop and you have to be able to chop really fast when you’re a chef.”

When he started looking for a home he “didn’t think I would have too much of a problem”.

[ How a failing rental market threatens social and economic catastrophe ]

“But I have sent easily 200 emails to landlords and every agent in the city in the last six months. I got one reply. I haven’t even had a viewing.

“I was looking on rent.ie this morning. A double bedroom in a house-share was €1,150 a month. A single room was €900. Apartments are about €1,800 for one bedroom. Two bedrooms are about €2,200.”

He and a friend who is working are now looking for a two-bedroom home, hoping between them they could pay “about €2,000″ but “are having no joy”.

“We’re completely priced out of it. I did find a place in Dublin 12 this morning. I put in two emails but haven’t heard back from them. There is still a little bit of hope, but I have only two weeks left. If I find nowhere, I will have to go into emergency accommodation. That thought scares me — in with a load of people with mental health issues, alcoholics, addicts... I have never been homeless in my life.”

Asked what he feels Government should be doing, he says: “Make sure there are houses that are for people to live in. All I want is for somewhere to put my head at night.”

Mulvaney says he believes Sinn Féin in government would provide “more social housing, look after the people more”.