A devastated family-of-six said they fled to Liverpool after receiving death threats, but now face the prospect of being homeless this Christmas. Kathleen Mongans and Brendan Francis Quinn claim they travelled to Merseyside on 11 April after becoming subject to a campaign of violence and harassment in their home city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Unable to stay in Belfast after receiving death threats
They presented themselves as homeless to Sefton Council who put them up in temporary accommodation while their claim for housing was assessed and circumstances leading up to their arrival in the UK reviewed.
The couple have four daughters and one son – one adult daughter lives in Belfast, and the four remaining children live with them in temporary housing in Litherland. Kathleen said their living situation has been really hard on the family, but the kids have really responded to the stability and routine since moving into their current home and starting at school.
Asked why the family left Belfast, Kathleen said:
“We were told Brendan would be shot and killed and that there’s a price on his head.
“We are Catholics and we are also Travellers, but we were moved into an area in Belfast and where we were told we are not welcome. We couldn’t go to the police, we couldn’t go to anyone.”
Intentionally homeless after fleeing for their lives?
The council moved the family to their second temporary home in August and where they currently live. However, after an initial assessment to determine whether the family had made themselves ‘intentionally homeless’, Kathleen and Brendan were informed their claim had been rejected. They appealed, but their appeal was rejected, and they were issued with a notice to vacate their present accommodation by 26 November.
A spokesperson for Sefton Council said:
“While we can’t comment on individual circumstances, as with all homelessness applications, the council discharges its statutory duties as defined in homelessness legislation to ensure that everyone is treated fairly.
“Households that find themselves in circumstances where their accommodation is, or has, become insecure should contact the local authority as soon as possible. Details can be found on our website.”
Facing homelessness
The prospect of becoming homeless is one which has impacted every family member, but Kathleen crystallised all of their worries when she said:
“My greatest fear in life is something I can barely even say and it’s all I think about. I’m constantly scared about whether my children will get removed from me if we become homeless and I simply can’t live without my children.
“That would destroy me, it would destroy us all as a family. I’ve already had a breakdown and I just know I can’t go on like this.”
Belfast Council supports the couples claims
Kathleen’s claims about the threat to Brendan’s life were supported by a Belfast City Council officer who worked with the family when they lived in Northern Ireland. The LDRS (Local Democracy Reporting Service) has seen a letter from this officer sent to Sefton Council in support of the family’s appeal.
The letter describes how the family were placed into a community where they were ‘targeted’ for being both Catholic and members of the Traveller community, stating:
Kathleen told me that they had been threatened to get out, if the warning is ignored an imminent attack will happen.
This isn’t the first time that the family has had to move due to intimidation.
Sefton Council reviewed the death threats but stuck by their decision
The LDRS has seen the review decision letter sent by Sefton Council who investigated all of Kathleen Mongan’s claims and contacted various housing and law enforcement organisations in Northern Ireland – including a review of the letter sent by the Belfast City Council officer. The letter stated: “[We] have been unable to find any evidence that supports your claims that you were fleeing violence from your previous address in Belfast […or] there was any significant risk to you or any of your family members.”
The review letter also stipulated Belfast Local Authority Housing Directorate’s belief it was safe for the family to return to Belfast and that the Belfast city council worker’s supporting document amounted to a ‘perceived risk’, stating: “[the Belfast city council worker] did not witness anything […] but that the locals do not like outsiders [and] was unable to give any direct accounts of what [they] believed had occurred.”
The decision letter added: “Further inquiries were conducted and [the Belfast City Council officer] was unable to provide any evidence that you were at risk.”
Nonetheless, Kathleen maintains the threat is real and said the lack of evidence is directly related to the specific circumstances found in Belfast, she added:
We fled from violence. We cannot go back to Belfast as my partner will be shot and that’s the threat we’re living under.
In Belfast, they don’t come knocking on your door in the middle of the day and announce they’re going to hurt you. We were threatened so we packed up and left and didn’t look back. Brendan’s dad passed away two weeks ago after battling cancer and he couldn’t even go back for his funeral.
Kathleen’s children attend two schools in Sefton – one primary and one secondary – and both schools wrote supporting letters to Sefton Council, seen by the LDRS. The family also had an assessment letter from Dr Venu Rajaratnam at The Strand Medical Centre in Bootle which detailed the emotional stress suffered by Kathleen and her children.
No idea what comes next
One of the options being explored by Kathleen and her family is the private rental market, but they have no money for a deposit and no chance of getting a guarantor, due to the desperation of their circumstances. Kathleen said:
We’re being told to go back to Belfast, but that’s like signing our own death warrant.
We’ve got no family members that can help us with that. We’ve tried every avenue that we could think of. We need help and we’re pleading to anyone out there who can help us in this situation. All I want is for our family to be kept together.
Adapted from an LDRS story written by Elliot Jessett
