A "Kafkaesque scenario of events" is how the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Catherine Connolly, has described it, while Galway author Rita Ann Higgins has recorded her own response in powerful verse.
Since Bríd Cummins (48) was found dead in her council flat on December 6th last, artists and writers who knew her have joined her family and several public representatives in seeking an independent inquiry into Galway City Council's role in the affair.
Her solicitor, Mr Jarlath McInerney, has also condemned what he has described as Galway City Council's "relentless pursuit" of a tenant, and one which lacked all compassion.
Not only did the city council direct an independent homeless organisation not to assist Ms Cummins when she was evicted, but it turned down an offer by Ms Cummins to leave her flat voluntarily if she was allowed to stay there over Christmas.
Ironically, just days after her death, it emerged that Ms Cummins had worked for the homeless organisation, Simon, in Galway some 15 years ago and had edited an anthology of poetry published to raise funds for it. Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Rita Ann Higgins, Mary O'Malley, Ciaran Carson, Thomas Kinsella and Richard Murphy were among the many contributors, and Ms Cummins also wrote her own poem, entitled Sunday Markets.
Originally from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Ms Cummins was one of five sisters, and worked in the civil service in Dublin before moving to Waterford. About 18 years ago, she moved to Galway and was on a FÁS placement during her time with Simon. She worked for a time with NUI Galway, but her back began to trouble her. Documentation released by Galway City Council charts her medical history, and at one point she was interviewed on RTÉ radio by Gay Byrne about suffering from depression.
Ms Cummins was on a waiting list for local authority housing for several years before being granted tenancy in a flat at Munster Avenue, near the city centre. Due to her disability, she required carer assistance. She was not satisfied with the standard of her accommodation.
She applied for a transfer in January 2000, and complained of problems with her upstairs neighbour. In turn, her neighbour complained about her, and the matter appears to have been resolved when the neighbour was granted a transfer in December, 2002.
Ms Cummins commissioned an independent engineer's report on her premises. In the new report, the local authority says that its executive engineer inspected the accommodation on foot of this.
It says that it believes the accommodation complied with current regulations relating to the standard of rented housing and it spent just over €20,000 on maintenance of the flat from the time she moved in.
It was when Ms Cummins initiated legal proceedings in July 2003, that the relationship with the city council appears to have deteriorated. The documentation logs complaints by a separate neighbour, from June 2003, and says that the two complaints to the gardaí were made by a social worker and by the local authority itself. It says it initiated eviction proceedings because of the "substantial" physical risk posed by Ms Cummins to this neighbour - a claim denied by both Ms Cummins and her legal representatives during an appeal against her eviction.