Patrick Keenan and Agnes Cullen, who had been living in a car for nine months before moving into Riverview.

‘It was our dream ... but now we are being told to move’

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Residents of Riverview outside the estate on February 17 at a protest over their eviction.

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Residents of Riverview outside the estate on February 17 at a protest over their eviction.

Published: Fri 23 Feb 2024, 3:30 PM

An Offaly woman has spoken of her fears for the future, after she received an eviction notice from her apartment in Kilbeggan.

Agnes Cullen, from Clara, and her partner, Patrick Keenan, are among some 30 tenants to receive eviction notices at the Riverview apartment complex in Kilbeggan.

Protests have been ongoing each Saturday in recent weeks. Last weekend, he protest was attended by dozens of tenants, who have been given until July to vacate their homes, as well as other members of the community and local politicians as a show of support.

The owner of the complex, the Remcoll Group, announced last month that it planned to sell 77 housing units in the estate.

Agnes and Patrick had been homeless before moving to Riverview. “We had been living in a car for nine months,” Patrick said.

“We got this about two and a half years ago and thought it was going to be our forever home, but now it’s being sold.” Agnes Cullen, with whom he shares a home, said the whole situation “doesn’t make sense”.

“We’ve always wanted to live in Riverview,” she said. “It was our dream to live here and we finally got the apartment – but now we’re being told to move.

“We’re on HAP with Offaly County Council and have heard nothing from them, they said nothing to us apart from ‘contact Threshold’.”

Those who have received notices to quit at Riverview so far are those in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment through the local authorities in Westmeath and Offaly.

The remaining tenants are mostly on long-term social housing leases with Westmeath County Council (WCC) or the Fr Peter McVerry Trust.

In a statement recently, Offaly County Council said that it “is aware that a Notice of Termination has been issued to a number of tenants at the Riverview Complex in Kilbeggan“.

“A number of the tenancies in the complex are on Offaly County Council’s Social Housing Support List and are in receipt of Intercounty Housing Assistance Payments. The council will be liaising with qualifying households to provide support over the coming months.”

In a statement released earlier this month, Westmeath County Council said it is currently engaging with an approved housing body to support an acquisition of some of the homes at Riverview.

The Riverview apartment complex was first brought to market in 2007 and is now valued in the region of €10m.