Carmel Askin never foresaw herself being homeless in retirement.
In the last 18 months, the 66-year-old has moved house five times.
Unable to afford accommodation in Galway, she turned to her previous occupation to become a live-in carer.
However, it has been precarious.
When a person she had been looking after died, Carmel had to find accommodation somewhere else.
Rents were unaffordable, so she declared herself homeless with the Council in Galway and contacted Galway Simon Communities for support.
The charity helped her find accommodation to rent, but Ms Askin could not sustain the payments after six months.
Her only choice was to return to caring and to live with older people requiring support.
Two weeks ago, she moved into the home of a woman who she is helping in exchange for accommodation.
Speaking at an event held by the Simon Communities in Galway as part of a week-long campaign highlighting homelessness, she outlined the physical and mental toll.
"In my last job, I was burned out at the end. I had come to the end regarding the amount I could give. My body was exhausted."
The average rent in Galway is €2,300 per month, and with little to no HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) properties available, an increasing number of people like Ms Askin are "couch surfing".
"Even in just the few months since I've started looking the rents have gone up, so even with HAP I wouldn’t be able to afford them," Ms Askin said.
These people are not included in the monthly homeless figures released by the Department of Housing each month, because they relate solely to people living in emergency accommodation.
Latest figures show that 16,353 were recorded as homeless in August.
It is an increase of 295 on the previous month, and 131 of those are children.
People over 65 make up a small cohort of the overall homeless figures, however, Executive Director Simon Communities Ireland, Ber Grogan, has pointed out that just a number of years ago, child homelessness was in the hundreds.
There are now 5,145 children recorded as living in Emergency Accommodation.
Therefore, the Simon Communities said action is required now to tackle over 65s becoming homeless, before the situation gets out of control.
According to the CSO, the older population of 781,400 recorded in 2022 will grow to over 1.94 million by 2057.
Chief Executive of Alone, Seán Moynihan, has pointed out that the number of over-65s renting went up 83% in the last census, and it's becoming an increasing issue for the charity.
At the Simon Communities event in Galway, it was also pointed out that gender must also be taken into account because women are more likely to take time out of the workforce to become carers.
This puts them at more risk of homelessness.
Ms Askin does not know what the future holds. She is not convinced that she will ever be able to afford rent in the current climate, never mind a home of her own.
