WOMAN SEEKS TO QUASH EVICTION BY CORPORATION

A Heroin-addicted mother of two who has been served with a notice to
quit her Darndale, Dublin, home after gardai seized drugs, has asked
the High Court for leave to challenge her impending eviction.

Mr Justice Kelly was told the woman, who is also looking after her
heroin-addicted partner's child in addition to her own two young
children, has since her arrest made every effort to cure her
addiction, is attending drug counselling and has taken up a place on a
methadone programme.

She said she was unemployed and was unable to provide accommodation
for herself and her children from her own resources. If evicted, she
feared they would be homeless possibly for the rest of their childhood.

Applying for leave to seek orders quashing Dublin Corporation's
decision to serve notice to quit and to take District Court
proceedings for the delivery-up of the home, Mr David O'Neill, for the
woman, said the corporation had failed to take into account her
efforts to cure her drug problem.

He argued that the corporation must consider the constitutional rights
of the three children who would also be left with no home. He agreed
that a condition of the tenancy was that the house should not be used
for an unlawful purpose and the woman had admitted that heroin was
found there.

Mr O'Neill also accepted the corporation's intention was to eliminate
anti-social behaviour. The eviction of this family, however, was more
likely to increase such behaviour as it could be some time before they
were rehoused.

In her affidavit, the woman said it was the policy of Dublin
Corporation to evict all tenants convicted in relation to the sale and
supply of drugs. It was also the policy of the corporation and the
Eastern Health Board not to rehouse any person whose tenancy had been
determined because such involvement. She also believed the EHB might
refuse to pay her supplementary welfare allowance for rent purposes.

She said she moved into her Darndale home in March 1989 and paid her
rent as it fell due. She was the mother of two children aged seven and
10 and was looking after her partner's child, aged 13. That child's
mother was dead, and a psychiatrist had written that any change in her
accommodation would be detrimental.

She and her partner were arrested in February 1998 for possessing
7.928 grams of brown powder containing heroin. She was charged with
having heroin for sale or supply. They pleaded guilty in December and
she was remanded on bail for sentence in May.

She was called for an interview with Dublin Corporation to explain the
circumstances of her arrest. An official did not tell her she would be
evicted and did not ask her to explain why she should not be evicted,
and no inquiry was made regarding her children. She did not hear
anything until served with a notice to quit in September 1998.

Since her arrest, she had made every effort to cure her addiction. She
was placed on methadone support in April 1998 for seven weeks with a
named doctor, but because of a Department of Health protocol, the
doctor could not continue

to provide that treatment. She was referred to another project, was
assessed and was on a bed list for in-patient detoxification at a Co
Kildare centre.

She was also accepted for placement on a methadone programme and began
that treatment earlier this month.

Her solicitors were told she was being evicted because of complaints
by persons unknown and an investigation by the corporation concerning
the finding of drugs at her home. Under the Freedom of Information
Act, she was told the decision to serve a notice to quit was a result
of a Garda raid on her home which resulted in a quantity of controlled
drugs for supply being found.

Mr Justice Kelly said he would make his ruling today.