Single mum fears for daughter’s future after struggling to find home

A single mum fears she may have to move back to her home country after struggling to find a place to rent in Dublin.

Eli Jara, 39, moved to Dublin from Spain last year after her teenage daughter, Mara, told her she wanted to study English. Eli said: “I wanted to make my daughter’s dream come true so we moved to Ireland.

“But now we might have to move back home as we have been struggling to find a home for ourselves.” The duo first moved in with friends and later lived in a houseshare with strangers.

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“It was hard not to have our own space. My daughter especially struggled with it so I decided to try and find an apartment to live alone,” she explained.

Eli, who works as a Flamenco dance teacher, said she has sent in hundreds of queries to estate agents in the last few months but only received a handful of replies. “It is shocking! The rents are so expensive too.”

Eli said she doesn’t mind moving to any part of Dublin but would prefer to live near Mara’s school in Beaumont. She added: “My daughter is an excellent student and does well at school. I don’t want to take her away from that.”

Eli has until September to find a home or she may have to move back to Spain. “I worry about my daughter’s future. I want her to grow up in this wonderful country but it’s looking impossible.”

She said she’s tried everything to find a home within her budget. “I’ve asked people around me, I spoke to the council, I even went door-to-door but haven’t had any luck.

“I’m making one last attempt before making the decision to return to Spain to my mother’s house, and it would be a shame.”