![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5263973_8_articleinline_GettyImages-2296708012_1_.jpg\" "\\"The")
The late Mar\u00eda del Carmen Abascal, whose eviction after more than 70 years in her home sparked national protests in Spain in September. Picture: Fernando Sanchez\/Europa Press via Getty<\/p>\nRose*, a 62-year-old woman from North Dublin, is going to be evicted from her home of 30 years next Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
As a young woman, she had bought her own home and had the mortgage paid off 10 years later, but sold it the day before she got married so she and her husband could buy a bigger house, with more room for their two children.<\/p>\n
After a workplace incident that left her unable to work, and her husband left them and did not engage with the bank, she was unable to pay the mortgage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time next week I\u2019ll be out of here,\u201d she told the Irish Examiner through tears, while sitting in her kitchen surrounded by her belongings that she had begun packing away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am devastated, even looking at all my furniture, looking at my garden, which I adore, and I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going. It\u2019s very hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was 22, I always had in my head that I was going to buy a house and I was going to leave my children OK. And now I\u2019m not OK, I have nothing, and it\u2019s very hard to think at 22 I had it all, and at 62, I have nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She has no family based in Dublin who she can stay with \u2014 her daughter is couch surfing while working full time \u2014 and said many of her peers have paid their mortgages off and are planning their retirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that I have to go to a hostel and I\u2019m scared,\u201d she said. \u201cThe fact that I\u2019m 62, I\u2019m not the norm, I\u2019m not a substance user, but I know it\u2019s the only option I have.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to deal with what\u2019s ahead of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want people to know that it can happen to anybody. It doesn\u2019t just happen to young people anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The number of older people presenting as homeless \u2014 some for the first time in their lives \u2014 has increased in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Although the cohort has remained small in the overall monthly homeless figures, charities representing older people and the homeless have noted that the trend is expected to continue.<\/p>\n
In Spain, tens of thousands of people took to the streets over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home of seven decades in Madrid, with a snap election called in response to the political crisis that ensued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you take what happened in Spain, the potential for the political system here is something like that will happen,\u201d said Se\u00e1n Moynihan, chief executive of the charity Alone, of the protests in support of Mar\u00eda del Carmen Abascal, who died last week.<\/p>\n
The late Mar\u00eda del Carmen Abascal, whose eviction after more than 70 years in her home sparked national protests in Spain in September. Picture: Fernando Sanchez\/Europa Press via Getty<\/p>\n
\u201cThe social contract was very simple: You pay your taxes, you work hard, you\u2019re a good citizen, you pay your insurance, you don\u2019t break the law, and in return, health and housing. Ultimately, that\u2019s been broken.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the current scenario, it\u2019s nearly inevitable that we\u2019re going to have more homeless older people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said Ireland is at the \u201cthin end of the wedge\u201d of an aging population and a continuing drop in house ownership among people aged over 60, which is projected to fall to 65%.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo where are that 35% going when their income goes down, or they are bereaved?\u201d he said, noting that it is inevitable that your income drops after retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve asked every minister for housing that question for 15 years, back to Alan Kelly, and I don\u2019t know the answer \u2014 how are they going to pay the rent when they retire?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said \u201cthousands and thousands\u201d of age-friendly social housing units are needed over the next 15 years to meet demand, which would also suit single people and couples on the social housing list.<\/p>\n
The last Census, recorded in 2022, found there was an 83% increase in the number of properties rented by those aged 65 and over from a private landlord, a total of almost 17,000.<\/p>\n
The number of people aged 65 or older who are in emergency accommodation has also increased by 168% since 2017, to 271 people recorded in August this year.<\/p>\n
This does not include people rough sleeping, couch surfing, or those staying in hospitals or with friends or family.<\/p>\n
A 75-year-old chef, originally from Co Kildare, became homeless nine years ago after he got pains in his stomach while at work and had his kidney removed.<\/p>\n
He said that he could not work and could not pay rent, and slept in his car for a year. When he needed to wash, he would take a dip in the sea at Portmarnock.<\/p>\n
\u201cLousy,\u201d he said of how he felt at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re completely helpless. I was begging. It was hard. \u2018Why don\u2019t you get a job,\u2019 everyone was saying, and they don\u2019t realise what homelessness is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He went into emergency accommodation for two years, where he said he could not leave his belongings in his room during the day in case they were taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, you\u2019re just going through everyday life and just hope something good will happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing to do is to think positive, don\u2019t start feeling sorry for yourself, that\u2019s the worst thing you can do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Alone](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5263976_8_articleinline_Alone_20Annual_20Report_20009_1_.jpg\" "\\"Alone")
Alone CEO S\u00e9an Moynihan: ‘In the current scenario, it\u2019s nearly inevitable that we\u2019re going to have more homeless older people.’ Picture: Arthur Carron\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Br\u00edd\u00edn Carroll, a social gerontology researcher, said older people at risk of homelessness can face shame and stigma, both internal and external, as well as depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe research shows that these feelings are more intense for the people who are experiencing it for the first time in later life because you have this massive shift in their reality and they have no idea how to navigate the homelessness system,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Carroll\u2019s research, funded by the National Disability Authority, on older adults with disabilities who are experiencing housing challenges, indicates that a dedicated agency or key worker to support older disabled adults in navigating the housing system would make a big difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite often their need is more urgent because they are older and they can\u2019t just be left sitting as number 700 on the list.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone has cognitive decline and they\u2019re living in homeless accommodation, they can\u2019t be cared for properly in that situation, but that situation still happens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Carroll said the cohort of older people becoming homeless for the first time in later life included people who were never in a position to buy a property, because they were in lower-paid jobs; people who do not have a private pension because of the sector they worked in, such as the arts or hospitality; people whose relationship had broken down; or people who had developed an illness or disability and their home became inaccessible or unsuitable.<\/p>\n
In addition, private market renters may have missed rent payments due to illness or other personal challenges.<\/p>\n
She said one research participant\u2019s partner was dying, while at the same time they were dealing with \u201ca cascade of catastrophic health challenges\u201d, which had left them disabled and unable to work.<\/p>\n
This made paying rent on their home, which they had lived in for over a decade, impossible, and they became homeless.<\/p>\n
![\"Mary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5263979_8_articleinline_WhatsApp_20Image_202026-10-16_20at_2014.37.25_20_3_.jpeg\" "\\"Mary")
Mary Jane Farrer in front of her\u00a0 her Galway home.<\/p>\n
In the Galway home of Mary Jane Farrer, aged 66, several paintings by her father Jack take pride of place in the hallway, sitting room, and bedroom.<\/p>\n
These include one of a farmers market in Galway from 1989; one of her as an eight-year-old girl in a kimono; and a self-portrait of her father playing the trumpet.<\/p>\n
In her previous tenancies, from which she was evicted, she could not hang her father\u2019s paintings up.<\/p>\n
Although Mary Jane had worked as a chef all her working life, 15 years ago she had to give it up when she badly injured her back, which created uncertainty for her living situation.<\/p>\n
She said she was evicted from a flat in Salthill after the landlord decided to sell; then moved to a Celtic Tiger-era flat in Doughiska, which was \u201creally damp\u201d and was evicted again; and then to a flat in Headford because she couldn\u2019t afford anywhere in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout eight or nine years ago, prices started going up, and just the availability wasn\u2019t there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said an agent told her her flat in Headford had been sold, and she couldn\u2019t find anywhere else to rent.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time a car drove in, you\u2019d be thinking, \u2018Oh no, are they coming to evict me now, to kick me out?\u2019 \u201cBecause you hear all these things about these people turning up, and it\u2019s just awful. Not sleeping properly and not being able to eat properly, just not looking after yourself because it\u2019s constantly on your mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that you need as a human being to live is affected by getting eviction orders or by becoming homeless, everything you need for your sanity, whether it\u2019s in your brain or in your body, it\u2019s just gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said it was 18 months before they were evicted, due to issues with another block of flats, which led to a \u201cvery frightening period\u201d where she tried and failed to find a place to rent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t sleep at night, and you don\u2019t tell people how you feel because it sounds silly at your age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get emotional talking about it, even still. You do a lot of crying at night, and it\u2019s just really hard and scary and there\u2019s no way out of it. You\u2019re ringing all these places and saying, \u2018I need somewhere, and there\u2019s nowhere to get anything\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always thought I\u2019d be able to afford somewhere. I didn\u2019t think that a one-bedroom flat or a two-bedroom flat in Galway City would be nearly \u20ac1,500.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just didn\u2019t think that was going to happen. Now it\u2019s \u20ac2,500, it\u2019s crazy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Galway Simon Community said they could foresee six or seven years ago that the demographics were shifting \u2014 as the number of older people who were renting grew, so would that age cohort who were at risk of homelessness.<\/p>\n
It built a community development for older people in Galway city, S\u00f3mas \u2014 and Mary Jane was housed in one of 10 A-rated, fully furnished one-bedroom apartments in April 2025.<\/p>\n
Mary Jane now pays rent to Simon from her State pension and urged the Government to back similar developments for older people around the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can pay my rent, and I still have money left over to buy food \u2014 it\u2019s just such a difference,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember my daughter drove me up, and she said, \u2018I think that\u2019s it, mum\u2019, and I went \u2018Oh my god!\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just burst in and said, \u2018Is this mine?\u2019 It took me six or eight months to get rid of the stress, and to actually go, \u2018Yeah, this is mine\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Department of Housing said an action plan on delivering housing for older people is being prepared and \u201cis expected it will be completed in the coming months\u201d.<\/p>\n
It also said a homeless prevention framework would be published, and that Budget 2027 provided funding of \u20ac543m towards homeless emergency accommodation and support services, including for older persons.<\/p>\n
\n *Rose is a pseudonym used at interviewee\u2019s request.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rose*, a 62-year-old woman from North Dublin, is going to be evicted from her home of 30 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,29289,807,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-659316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-homelessness","tag-housing","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}