Apartments run by Clúid to provide template for new schemes

Like many people who become homeless, David Kinsman (53) thought it would never happen to him.

Kinsman, from Ballaghaderreen in Co Roscommon, had a tough start. His father got a neurological illness and died when his two children were in their early teenage years.

From the age of 17, Kinsman spent six years in the Army in Athlone and Galway, and then worked in construction.

"I worked in England, the US and Germany, and I was in a situation where I couldn't save for a mortgage," he says.

He moved back to Ireland 17 years ago and trained and worked as an addiction counsellor. He was on the State's rental assistance scheme, which covered most of his rent in Galway, when he was given three months' notice to quit.

“I knew finding somewhere within my limited budget was going to be extremely difficult,” says Kinsman, the father of one adult son.

He was on a bus drivers’ training course when the Clúid housing agency contacted him.

"Galway City Council must have put my name on a list. Within three weeks I was sorted," he says. He was offered a one-bedroom apartment in the Cúirt Róisín development in Knocknacarra, which was opened recently by Minister for Housing Simon Coveney.

Clúid is one of the largest housing agencies in the State, working with local authorities to provide affordabl accommodation. Formerly, it received 100 per cent government grant aid, but in 2010 the system changes to loan finance, comprising a small government loan that is used to access the remaining finance.

It says in most cases this is a loan from the Housing Finance Agency, the State-owned company providing loan finance to local authorities and housing associations. Most Clúid tenants pay a rent that is a proportion of their income.

The 15-unit Cúirt Róisín apartment scheme will serve as a “template” for new housing schemes, Coveney says.

He told the new tenants, including Kinsman, Amy Galvin (28) and Louise Borre (42), that they "shouldn't be just feeling lucky" when it is the "responsibility of the State" to ensure they are not homeless.

Galvin, from Ballinfoyle in Galway, was living with her grandparents when she was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. She had to suspend her studies while she was treated.

Borre has lived for the past seven months in emergency accommodation in Galway city, having become homeless after she became ill.

“Moving is a nightmare, but when you are not financially secure and don’t know who you are dealing with, it is very very stressful,” Kinsman says.

“So when someone says ‘this could be your home for life if you want it’, it feels like the world is giving you a big hug.”