Homeless children: Billy, 10 – ‘My sister asks where the dog is. We have to say Nana is minding her’

“The last place, there was a bunk bed and a travel cot, and my mam and dad were in the double bed. The only other thing we could fit in was the telly we brought, and then there was a little table for the clothes and a big wardrobe.

“In the whole house, everyone in it had to share a kitchen and an oven. It was hard. Sometimes for dinner we had to eat Pot Noodles.

“You weren’t allowed out. You had to stay in, and you couldn’t run around because of the noise. There was no friends allowed. You weren’t allowed into other people’s rooms. It was just boring.

“For school we’d be up at seven o’clock . . . We’d have to get two buses. For school, me and [my sister] would be tired getting up, and we’d be late sometimes.

“I had loads of friends in Coolock. It was close to the school, and I played. Most of the time I wanted to stay in my grandad’s because I didn’t really like [the B&B]. I didn’t have that much friends there. [In Coolock] I’d have at least 12.

“It has made me feel lonely, a bit left out. I saw one of my friends last week. We were playing against each other in a match, and he asked me how come I haven’t been out as much, and I said: ‘We moved.’ I just said to him: ‘We moved.’

“My dad is after getting a job. And he’s gone back to college. We’re going to get the stuff that is in storage: my little teddy that I had, and my toys.

“We had a dog, Milly, and [my sister] asks where is she. We have to say Nana is minding her. We had to give her away.”