Cork woman (40s) is living ‘night to night’ in hostel despite having a ‘good job’

Sarah appeared on Cork’s 96fm Opinion Line to tell her story and the “devastating situation” she is in as Christmas approaches.

In her 40s, Sarah is living in a hostel – alongside many other people who are working but have nowhere to go.

"It’s an awful position to be in at this hour of my life,” she told host PJ Coogan, who met Sarah at her work.

“The hostel closes on the 22nd and I know I’m working until the 24th – I can’t even think that far ahead to be honest with you.”

Sarah pays to live in the hostel night-on-night, revealing to listeners that she has “no privacy” but is grateful to hostel owners that she has somewhere to stay.

She said the local hostel is full of people who all have jobs but can’t find somewhere to live long-term.

After months of searching, she is still without a home and says the housing crisis is so bad that potential tenants’ names are “put into a hat” and picked in a lottery.

“The scams that are online are shocking,” the woman revealed, telling listeners of people she has met in the hostel who have lost out on deposits in suspected rental scams

"As a woman you feel really vulnerable – I’m not trying to say that other people aren’t – but it’s a really devastating position to be in,” Sarah admitted.

“To go ‘Where am I going to be safe?’ more than anything.”

She recently rang Caitriona Twomey, who runs Cork’s Penny Dinners, in a last ditch effort to find a bed for the night when the hostel was full.

She confesses she is one of many calling the woman for help.

"I couldn’t even talk to her, I just wept, it’s an awful position to be in at this hour of my life,” Sarah revealed.