A woman who said she is living in fear of her “abusive” adult daughter, who moved home after being evicted, has refused an offer of an interim barring order due to concerns that her daughter would then be homeless.
Dublin District Family Court heard on Friday the woman’s daughter, aged in her 30s, moved home after receiving a notice of termination last year.
Since then, the woman told Judge Gerard Furlong she feels “very unsafe” in her own home and frequently leaves the house when her partner is not there.
“I don’t like being alone with her,” she said.
“There’s been recent pucking, pushing and threatening to ‘end’ me. I’m scared of her. I seem to be the target for her anger, and I’m blamed for her problems even though I was the best mother I could be.”
She alleged she was previously attacked by her daughter “with a knife” when she was a teenager, saying she is “still the same”.
Noting the history of “serious violence”, Furlong initially granted an interim barring order. However, the woman withdrew her application after hearing it would result in her daughter being swiftly removed from the home by gardaí.
“She will be homeless,” she told the judge.
She instead asked for a protection order, which was granted until the matter is heard in full. Should the daughter breach the temporary order by putting the woman in fear for her safety, she can be arrested.
She was one of several mothers to seek emergency orders on an ex parte basis (one side only represented) against their adult children on Friday.
Among them was a woman who said her son had lived with her most of his life after losing his home due to drug use.
“He shouts at me and calls me names,” she said, adding that her husband, who has health problems, “lives in fear” of him.
“I am afraid to sleep,” she said. Her son previously stole their car while under the influence of drugs and crashed it, she alleged, adding that he “refuses” offers of help with his addiction.
She further alleged her son has stolen their bank cards on several occasions and “takes our pension”.
“I can no longer live in this fear,” she said.
Furlong granted her application for an interim barring order.
In a separate case on Friday, a woman who claimed she is being “terrorised” by her husband was granted a protection order.
The woman alleged her husband locked her bedroom door when he moved out of the family home about a year ago, denying her access since.
He also “installed surveillance” and prevents her from having access to certain household items and “the heating switch”.
She said her husband, with whom she shares a child, owns the house and she has been sleeping on a mattress on the livingroom floor for the past year.
In a separate courtroom on Friday morning, a woman was granted a safety order after Judge Shalom Binchy heard she was beaten by the father of her young children on a “regular basis”.
Now living in a refuge centre in another county, she alleged she has previously suffered broken ribs and a broken nose at the hands of her ex-partner, who did not attend the hearing, saying her face was “deformed” on several occasions.
“He beat me up while I was pregnant,” she said, adding that earlier this year, he attempted to strangle her in front of their children.
“I just want this to be an end to it once and for all. I’ve suffered for many years at the hands of this man,” she said.
Asked how long she would like the order to last, should it be granted, she replied: “For life, if I could”.
Noting the “extremity” of what was described, Binchy granted a safety order for the maximum period of five years.