Woman with full-time job living in Cork cow shed because she can't afford rent

The German native describes herself as the 'squeezed middle' in society, who are 'too poor to live, too rich to die'

A woman in Cork is living in a cow shed because she can’t afford to rent anywhere despite working full-time for a large multinational company.

She has described herself as part of the “squeezed middle” in society, who are “too poor to live, too rich to die”.

The German native has also been denied social housing because her income is above the threshold. However, she isn’t earning enough to pay rent in the county, she told Mick Mulcahy on Red FM yesterday.

Beata, who is in her 50s, had been living in a mobile home before her landlord went into mortgage arrears and the site was repossessed earlier this year.

She arranged that her dogs would stay with her friend temporarily after the eviction in May and, while she was dropping them off, she spotted a disused cow shed.

READ MORE: Micheal Martin lodges court proceedings against Google over alleged use of his image in online adverts

“While we were sitting and having a chat, I started looking at her shed from the outside, and I asked her ‘What’s the story with the shed?’” Beata recalled.

“She said ‘You cannot live in there – there’s no running water, there’s no heating, there’s no nothing,’” she continued.

There was electricity, however, and Beata’s friend told her that she could stay there for the summer months, until she finds long-term accommodation. Months later, she’s still living in the cow shed.

“Now I am still in it, it has a corrugated roof, when I look up in the morning now with the cold weather there’s actually ice on the inside of the roof since there’s no heating, it’s minus five degrees inside,” she said.

“I’ve got a corrugated roof, there’s no insulation there – it was never meant for living in. I found myself eyeballing it and considering moving into it while I was in the process of being evicted out of my mobile [home].”

Beata said that, despite working full-time for a good company, she’s struggling to afford the bare essentials.

“I have just picked up some insulation that I will put up on my day off. The crazy thing about it is, I work full-time and yet I can not afford to rent a place anywhere.

“Of course, I applied for social housing, which was denied because I am over the income threshold, which was a couple of hundred euros. I have now applied for council housing with the city council because the income threshold is higher,” she explained.

“If I could find somewhere affordable to rent, where I can keep my pets. If I could switch on a heater, it would be a big plus. To have running water, have a toilet, a bathroom. Even a bit of land where I could buy a mobile home.

“I am trying, and I am working, and I am trying to better myself, and yet I got punched for it,” she added.

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.