"Extremely anxious facing eviction", "Catch 22 - too rich for social housing, too poor to buy" and Ireland facing a "tidal wave of misery".
That is what people were highlighting in letters to politicians - including the Taoiseach and the Minister for Housing - before and after the lifting of the eviction ban.
The letters released to RTÉ's Morning Ireland highlight the shock, horror and disbelief of people facing eviction before and after the lifting of the ban.
The publication of the letters came as People Before Profit brought a private members' motion to the Dáil today calling for the Government to restore the ban.
The opposition party says removing it "was a disastrous move" as 12,847 people are living in emergency accommodation.
In total since 1 April, when the moratorium on evictions was removed, about 120 emails were received by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Housing about the lifting of the ban.
Nurse who fought Covid-19 during pandemic says she faces homelessness
A nurse living with her children told the Minister for Housing she cannot get a home to live in and is facing eviction because of the lifting of the ban.
She wrote to Darragh O'Brien saying that she is a nurse who "fought for the country in the healthcare sector during Covid" but now faces "living in the streets".
"The eviction ban protected us up until now," she said.
"I cannot afford what is being posted on Daft.
"I can't find a shelter for me and my babies. Where am I supposed to turn?"
Doctor and family facing homelessness 'beg' for help
In another letter, a doctor said that he needs help because he is "about to be evicted".
The man, who stated that his wife also works as a doctor, "begs" for help and explains that writing the letter is "my last resort to request from you personally to help me and my family in our ordeal with housing".
He also told the Taoiseach that the decision to lift the eviction ban has put pressure on his family.
He has saved for a deposit but is concerned that it may not be enough to buy a home.
"Please, I beg you to help us. We are in a really need of help".
The voice of the 'accidental' landlord
Another letter, written a week before the eviction ban was lifted, gives the view of an "accidental" landlord.
The letter, which is is addressed to the Minister for Housing, is from a person who describes themselves as a "prudent, hard-working, tax-paying, ordinary citizen".
They explain how the removal of the ban will help their son sell his home.
He had bought a home before leaving Ireland and rented it because he could not sell it.
"The voice of the accidental landlord is not being heard. Surely my son has a right to move on with his life abroad without financial disadvantage. He was forced to emigrate. Isn't that enough," the person wrote.
Another landlord wrote that "protections need to be there both for the tenant and the landlord".
Outlining the cost and challenges of being a landlord, and trying to remove tenants from a property through the Residential Tenancies Board process, the person wishes the Government - and the Taoiseach's coalition partners - "every success in dealing with the housing shortage".
"The dispute resolution system for Landlords and Tenants in Switzerland appears to be the best in Europe and should be investigated," they say. "It protects both parties and resolutions are found quickly".
Response outlines options for tenants
The Department of Housing responded to the letters highlighting what options are available to tenants facing evictions.
62 correspondence to the Office of the Taoiseach were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Animals have more rights
One person warned the Taoiseach to continue with the eviction ban or "there will be a tsunami of evictions and homelessness unlike anything we have seen in this country".
Other letters have an abusive tone and make comparisons to historic evictions.
One letter emailed to the Taoiseach, the Tanáiste and Minister for Housing is strongly critical of them and says money needs to be spent on public housing and "not unneeded military spending to please your masters in Brussels".
Another refers to a letter of an eviction in a previous century and says "evictions in Ireland in the 19th century. It created a rebellion because desperate people had enough".
Other letters are more political.
One writer - who has 22 days to leave their home - says they have "no political affiliations" and that "those TDs, ministers, and representatives who voted to keep the ban, the public will see you and will remember you".
Another member of the public told the Taoiseach, the Minister for Housing and other TDs that animals have more rights than people.
Their email stated: "Hi Darragh, etc. The thing is it is illegal to evict cattle, sheep, pigs onto the roadside, but it is perfectly legal to evict human beings onto the roadside. So farm animals have more constitutional tenure rights than people!"
Social contract 'null and void'
One person wrote that they are "in absolute shock" over the "removal of the eviction ban".
"I was oblivious to the fact it was protecting me until it was gone," they told Minister Darragh O'Brien, other TDs and the Taoiseach.
"With the removal of the eviction ban, and the lack of any properties on the market I am now faced with the insane prospect of actually being homeless.
"The social contract feels null and void for us, the state has failed us and we are in survival mode," the person wrote.
'We don't know anyone with a spare couch' - renter
Another renter sketched out "a tidal wave of misery" in a letter to the minister.
The letter explained the person "had been given notice of termination" on the house they were renting and saving for a deposit for a home was difficult with rental costs and childcare.
"We don't know anyone with a spare couch - live in our car til we have the deposit. Our biggest barrier is the deposit - constantly rising rents, rising cost of living and a target that moves constantly.
"I must also stress the absolute urgency of this situation for myself and many others. The 'tidal wave of misery' is already here. Please act without delay," they pleaded.
Representations by politicians: Too rich for social housing, too poor to buy
The documents also show how politicians wrote letters on people's behalf.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O'Gorman contacted the Minister for Housing making representations for those facing eviction.
One extract describe how one family was "too rich for social housing" but "too poor to buy".
"I have been unlucky. I get up early every day and my reward for working for a living and paying my taxes is not knowing if I will every own a roof over my head.
"[We] Earn too much for cost rental and too little to afford to buy. Catch 22.
"We literally have nowhere else to go in this state if we lose our home … Imagine that two tax payers and our reward is imminent homelessness.
"I don't want to hear about rent credits or cost rental. Working hard trying to do better and that is our reward, too rich for social housing too poor to buy."
'Nowhere' for renter 'to go to'
In another letter to the Minister for Housing, a person explained how they were feeling anxious about facing eviction.
"I'm currently facing eviction when my notice of termination ends and I'm extremely anxious about it as despite applying to numerous properties I have had not secured a home and have nowhere to go to".
Govt says eviction ban 'was not working'
In response to the letters, a Government spokesperson said homelessness increased when the ban on evictions was in place.
"The ban was lifted because it was not working. If it continued it would have resulted in more landlords leaving the market."
The Department of Housing said in a statement that it has closely monitored the rate of new entries into homeless since the ending of the ban.
"The rate of increase remains lower than in the period immediately prior to its introduction and indeed in varying periods during the moratorium.
"In March 2023, when the moratorium was still fully in effect, there was an increase of 246 individuals in emergency accommodation. In July, the increase in individuals was 159.
"What this demonstrates is the varied nature of presentations and entries into emergency accommodation.
"Any increase is always a cause of concern and the Government are focused on measures to prevent entries to, and facilitate successful exits out of emergency accommodation," the department said.
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It added that the period of the eviction ban allowed local authorities to increase available emergency accommodation.
"A number of measures have been put in place since the end of the eviction ban, in order to increase delivery of homes and mitigate the risk of homelessness including an expansion to the tenant in situ programme.
"For 2023, the department increased the social housing acquisition target from an initial 200 to at least 1,500 and the latest information provided by local authorities which will be validated and verified by the department shows there are 800 tenant in situ sales concluded with another 1,300 in progress.
"A Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme has also been established to allow local authorities to purchases homes where the tenant is at risk of homelessness but above the social housing income limits," the statement added.
Letters a reflection of people's 'trauma' - Simon
Wayne Stanley of the Simon Commuinties told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that continuing the moratorium on evictions "would have slowed the rate of homelessness - particularly homelessness impacting families".
Mr Staley pointed to other parts of the official figures.
The first, he said, is that there are 12,847 people living in emergency homeless accommodation.
Second, in April 2023 (when the evictions ban was lifted), there were 94 families made homeless - compared to 40 in March.
Mr Stanley said: "The letters accurately reflect the trauma that people, who knew they were at risk of homelessness, were experiencing.
"I think when we look at the figures in the month that it was lifted in April, we saw a very significant increase in family homelessness.
"What we have seen subsequent to that is homelessness - family homelessness in particular - has continued to increase back to the rates that we saw pre-Covid and and pre the eviction ban.
"The tsunami has already hit. What we're seeing is 200 additional families in homelessness over the four months since the eviction ban was lifted, and a number of them would have been prevented, would have been protected if the eviction ban had been in place.
"However the one thing I would say is what the State did do was put in place the tenant in situ scheme and I think that has really had an impact and kept a number of individuals and families out of homelessness".
