'Do I have heat or food?'- Mother still paying off last winter's crippling heating bills

A single mother of three young girls is struggling to heat her home as winter is fast approaching and her heating bills are sky high.

The woman named Ciara Byrne is from County Louth and is currently still paying off her crippling electricity bills from last Winter and is a single mother to three girls aged one, two and eleven.

She commented on the recent Budget 2026 that was announced earlier this week by saying: "it was a joke....literally didn't help anyone....empty promises and still worse off" as her and her children are struggling to get by.

The single mother's electricity bills peaked to €1200 earlier this year for two months with no support from anyone due to the poor development of her new apartment.

The woman and her young girls were delayed by a year to move into their new apartment complex and she said that when she moved in she quickly realised why.

"Now it makes sense why we were delayed," Ciara said. "It looks like the developer ran out of money because half of the estate is houses and the other have is duplex's and apartments that only have plug in heaters that you would see in an office".

While the houses are heated with air-to-water heating systems, Ciara said that her apartment and many others in the estate only have water heating. They instead have to use electric space heaters that cause her electric bills to be sky high.

"We were told to leave them on constantly on eco-mode which is up to 19 degrees and you can put it up two degrees in the Winter," Ciara said. 

Ciara said that last November her first electricity bill came in at €780 for two months and she said she was shocked and confused. 

The following two months then for November and December saw an electricity bill of €980 for Ciara.

She said she then got on to Clúid Housing, who is managing the apartment complex, to see if this amount was incorrect.

They told Ciara that this amount she was paying was in fact correct.

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The mother from Louth got her next bill in February which came to in and around the €1200 mark for two months, and she said "this is crazy".

Ciara then decided to ask around to see if her neighbours are experiencing the same high electric bills. 

Her neighbours told Ciara that they are all in the same boat. Since contacting Clúid Housing last October to bring light to the problem that her and the rest of the people living in the duplex are experiencing, Ciara said nothing has been done to help them.

Ciara and the rest of the families in the duplex decided to switch all of their heating off last April.

Her bills then during the summer were between €400 and €450 after cutting her heating off.

"We don't have any answers still now....we don't know what's going to happen...Clúid are saying that it's the developers problem,".

Ciara also said the County Council are taking no responsibility for it and have said that it's up to Clúid Housing to deal with the problem.

"Our first housing officer came out to my house and apologised and then two days later he had gone after promising to send help to pay the bills...

"We got a new housing officer eight months ago...everyday I ring Clúid and not once has she answered the phone....she doesn't email back.....she's always out of office....I am yet to hear what her voice sounds like.....it's crazy".

"It's coming into winter now and I'm still paying last winter's bill....I turned on the heating in the little girls room because they share a room....especially with them being small".

Ciara explained that she went to the social welfare to get an exceptional needs payment and she was told she needs to learn how to budget better.

She is hoping to try and get a part-time job now that her little girl is starting creche but worries that she will just be working to pay off her bills and is already a single mother to three young girls.

"It's a matter of do I pay extra for the bills or do I get the girls new runners.....weekly food shopping is crazy....you're paying over €200 if you want a food shop to last you the week".

Ciara has had to move her daughter to closer school so she can save €30 on bus fees and put it towards her food costs.

The single mother said she was turned away by the Vincent De Paul foundation who help families in need.

"I don't understand how a single mam with three kids can be turned away.....they said that the money is there you are just putting it towards your heating bill.....but yes I am because I don't want to be cut off.....so it is now what do I have? Do I have heat or do I have food?".

Ciara said that since appearing in Drogheda Life it looks to her like this is a nation-wide issue.

She, and the families in similar situations in the apartment complex, hope that by speaking out that they can get the help that they all need.

"It's so wrong in so many ways.....I'd rather hand back my keys and go live in a women's refuge.....I've rang them twice a week since last October.....no one wants to take responsibility".