'I'm banging my head against a brick wall' - Homeless Offaly man (65) hits out at council

A 65-year-old homeless man from Offaly has found himself in a situation no one wants to find themselves in and says he has completely run out of options.

The man, who we are referring to as Charlie (not his real name) to protect his identity, has been couch surfing in Tullamore for the last seven years and is suffering with a lot of medical problems, including waiting for knee replacement surgery.

After going to Offaly County Council for help in securing a one-bedroom home, Charlie was instead presented with bed and breakfast vouchers which he can't find anywhere to use, he told us.

Charlie moved back to Tullamore after living in the UK looking after his brother for over 30 years.

"He's a younger brother but when he passed away, I just thought, look, if I don't do it now, I'll never do it. All the rest of my family is back here. I was born and raised in this town. I was born in the hospital here in Tullamore and five years ago, I became a grandad.

"And I think the fact that the only reason I'm still fighting here or trying to fight here now is because of my granddaughter. I had all these plans, get a little place or something like that, even a one-bedroom flat and have her over for sleepovers.

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"But it was just all whipped out from underneath me and the only thing that's keeping me going right now at the moment is my granddaughter. I don't think I'd be here now if it wasn't for her.

"I've worked all my life. I've been independent. I left school at 16. I paid my tax, national insurance. I've had various jobs here in Tullamore. And then I went into the army for two years in Athlone.

"This is going back quite a number of years, and then I moved across to London because of the job situation here in Tullamore and in Ireland particularly.

"I spent about 31 years in London. Always working, always paying my tax, national insurance. Never asked for anything off the government, and when I moved back home seven years ago now, I didn't think I was going to face the struggles that I'm facing," he said in an honest interview.

Charlie spent over two years trying to register as homeless with Offaly County Council and has been couch surfing for six or seven years now since coming back from London.

"I'm staying with family and friends. Two nights here on this couch, two nights with a friend, but obviously, I can't do that long term."

Charlie needs a major knee replacement but can't go ahead with the surgery because he doesn't have a suitable dwelling to properly recover afterwards.

"I'm just banging my head up against a brick wall. I'm getting absolutely nowhere with them (the County Council). And my surgery is on hold until I get this situation sorted out. And the way things are going at the moment, I can't see any outcome. I can't see anything on the horizon unless I get my situation sorted out."

An advocate working with Charlie said that they "basically threatened escalation off the county council in order to actually get Charlie registered as homeless, they wouldn't even register him.

"And when they did through my kind of communications, they kind of forced him into a corner.

"They registered him and gave him what we call 'magic vouchers for B&Bs.' There's no B&Bs. I personally rang 16, maybe 17. I basically pretended that I was an employer and that Charlie was a specialist. Coming to do a job for six months and that he would need to stay four or five nights a week.

"Not one of them could commit more than two nights. So that's that. The council is aware of that. It's just box ticking, but it's beyond box ticking. They know there's no B&Bs."

Charlie has been waiting five years for a complete knee transplant and he is living in pain constantly. He said, "if I had a gun now, I'd send my head across this room. That's how bad I feel.

"But the only thing that stopped me from doing it is my granddaughter. Because I want to be around for her. But I can't see that happening in my present situation.

"I'm living day to day; I have actually slept down along the canal. I was actually asked by one TD, would I be prepared to make myself homeless? And I said, but I am homeless.

"And this person says, no, would you be prepared to actually, you know, live in a tent? Maybe it would better enhance my case, you know, of qualifying for some place to live. And they told me that the Simon Community would provide me with a tent, sleeping bag and all that. Then I heard absolutely nothing. Nothing came from that.

Charlie's advocate said that doing this wouldn't help his case.

"I can actually tell you it wouldn't, because they left people just not 500 metres away in tents for nearly two years."

Charlie said, "like I'm not 35 or 25 anymore. Like, you know, I'm 65. 40 years ago, yeah, it wouldn't bother me. But with all my medical history now, I'm finding myself in a really, really desperate situation here at the moment. That's the reason I'm doing this.

"I don't seem to be getting any feedback from the council. And it's like I'm just being left on a list and that's it. You know, sort of pushed aside and that's it."

Charlie's advocate said that the most critical failure is the urgent health needs. That means that the council, local authorities, have a general duty to the public in terms of housing. But once medical needs come in, that means that they have a personal duty to the person themselves, not a general duty.

"And there's a whole load of failures happening here. The most glaring of which is the two-year refusal to actually recognise Charlie is almost inexcusable."

"I don't know, " Charlie said, up here, mentally, I don't know how much longer I can hold this together. I don't know what else the council want me to do, I've done everything they asked of me and I've done everything by the book."

Charlie's advocate said that the few places that would be available to rent in Tullamore, "you're looking at starting prices of €1,800 a month. Completely out of anybody's ability. Anybody that can afford €1,800 a month as a mortgage. To do a house share, which is unsuitable, once you're no longer a student, you could be looking at €600, €650 a month to live with strangers."

Offaly County Council has been contacted for a comment on the contents of this article and on their services to homeless people.