A LONE parent of six children who suffer from asthma complained in the High Court yesterday that antidrug activists had protested outside her two bedroomed flat, frightening her and her children.
Ms Anne King, of Poplar Row, Ballybough, Dublin, got leave to seek an order from the court directing Dublin Corporation to transfer the family to more suitable accommodation.
Ms King, in an affidavit, told Mr Justice O'Sullivan her weekly income was £159. Her children were attending Temple Street Hospital. She had been a TB sufferer and she was now suffering from asthma and panic attacks. Their poor health had been exacerbated by their living conditions. The flat was continuously cold and damp and the roof leaked.
The father of her children sometimes stayed overnight to help mind the children. He had been a drug addict who completed a detoxification programme in January and had no further involvement with drugs.
Last December, a group of anti drugs activists, Ballybough Against Drugs (BAD), held protests outside her home, causing considerable distress and fear to herself and the children. A nine year old suffered fits and black outs. In recent weeks, the activists had not approached her home but she and the children were still fearful that this might change.
Ms King said Mr Richard Bruton TD had received a letter from Dublin Corporation in January that she had been awarded overall priority on medical grounds for accommodation. She had not been given any reason for the corporation's refusal to rehouse her. She could only presume it was related to the alleged conduct of the children's father.
She had refused a corporation request to sign a statement to the effect that the children's father would not reside with her. Suitable houses had become available but she had not been transferred.