“I don’t know where to go with the babies. I don’t know if I will find somewhere to live.”
Stefana Loredana Lacobuta (31) is a single mother to four children, aged between one and 12, and has just received an eviction notice on their home of five years.
She is one of at least four tenants who have been told they must leave their apartment in the three-storey Georgian building at 61 Mountjoy Square West in Dublin 1.
The landlord, John Rooney, intends to sell these apartments and has issued notices of termination through the estate agent, Buckley Real Estate. A number of these notices have been seen by The Irish Times.
RM Block
This is not the first time Rooney, or the companies of which he is a director or secretary, has come under the spotlight as a landlord.
Records from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) show that in 2019 Cuisle Properties Ltd, a company in which Rooney is also the sole shareholder, was ordered to pay €12,000 in damages to a tenant for unlawfully depriving them of their tenancy on Capel Street.
That same year Cuisle Properties Ltd was ordered to pay €3,000 to another tenant for unlawfully terminating a tenancy on North Circular Road.
In a third case that year, at another property, Cuisle Properties Ltd was ordered to pay €6,000 for the abuse of the termination procedure in respect of a tenancy at Gardiner Place in Dublin 1.
Now the tenants at 61 Mountjoy Square West have been told they must vacate the 17-unit building early next year, and many are nervous about what lies ahead of them amid a housing crisis, with high rents and a shortage of available properties.
Lacobuta, who lives in a two-bed apartment, receives the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to help pay her rent of €1,960 per month.
However, she is now stressed about being unable to afford more expensive housing. She can no longer work after failing to find a creche following the birth of her fourth child.
“It is difficult to find another place, because two- or three-bed accommodation is nearly €3,000 or more. I can’t pay [that],” she says.
While her rent at 61 Mountjoy Square West has been manageable, her living conditions have been far from ideal and she says the apartment is in need of urgent repairs.
“The sink is leaking; there is no water pressure for the washing machine,” she says.
Part of one of the windows is boarded up and the wooden frames are visibly breaking down, leaving the house draughty and hazardous.
“Once, I closed the window, and a glass [pane] fell down. Luckily, there is a garden in the front, but if it was the other window, if somebody was down in the front door, it would be my fault if something happened,” she says.
On a separate occasion one of her children pulled a chair and climbed up to the unprotected window, putting his head out through the open frame.
“He could have fallen straight through. I didn’t sleep for a few months,” she says.
Despite repeated complaints to Buckley Real Estate, the window was never properly repaired.
In November, she received a letter from Dublin City Council informing her the landlord had been served a prohibition notice because the apartment failed to meet legal standards for private rented housing.
As a result, the council said it would stop paying the landlord the HAP money by February 2026, and that she should use this time to find somewhere else to live.
“I was thinking they would put pressure on the landlord to fix the things, not to send me a new form and to find somewhere in 13 weeks. They will make me move out because they will stop the payment.
“I am alone with four kids ... I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t know what to do,” she says.
Two of her neighbours, sisters Lidia Cosma (57) and Maria Cosma (59), are also very worried about what they will do next.
“I was shocked because we have been here for 24 years, and in six months we have to move,” Lidia says. “I know it’s hard to find a house now. I don’t know where [we will go]. I am a full-time cleaner, but it’s not enough for rent.”
Over the years, the sisters made small renovations to the apartment, including new flooring, fresh paint and new appliances.
“We spent it expecting we would stay longer. I am worried because where do we go? I’m afraid of not finding a place,” she says.
The long-term tenants have already tried to find another place to live but are struggling because they don’t earn enough to pay rent of more than €2,000.
“I am crying because it’s a bit of desperation at the moment. I have been here for 20 years. I have a good reference. I work full time. My sister lost one of her part-time jobs during the pandemic and has been working only 27 hours, and receives the HAP benefit.
“There is no chance to find another house because the price now is very high,” Lidia says.
Another tenant, who has lived in the building since the middle of 2025 after spending almost eight years in homeless accommodation, says he is “in ruins” at having to leave.
The man, who is in his 40s but asked to remain anonymous, says he “can’t go on” this way.
“I have nowhere to go. I’m in fear of dying on the streets. I’m not going to find another property to be able to bring my daughter to. I can’t go back to my mother’s house because I haven’t lived in my mother’s house in over 10 years. My sister and my nephew live in my mother’s house. This is the problem. I can’t go on, I’m in ruins at the moment,” he says.
Dublin City Council said it served a prohibition notice in respect of one of the flats at 61 Mountjoy Square West on October 9th last following a reinspection of the property to check for compliance with an improvement notice served previously on May 30th, 2025. This “showed that the contraventions detailed in the improvement notice had not been remediated. The landlord did not object to the improvement notice nor appeal the prohibition notice.”
[ Number of eviction notices increases by third due to landlords selling propertyOpens in new window ]
Under housing regulations, HAP payments must cease 13 weeks from the date that the prohibition notice appeal period has ceased. In this case, that is due to be February 5th, 2026, the council said.
“The tenant will be notified of this and the council will provide information as to what options are available to the tenant. If the tenant is at risk of homelessness the council will work with them and do their best to find alternative arrangements.”
Buckley Real Estate did not respond to requests for comment.
Rooney said the eviction notices “were sent with a long expiry date” and that “the agent has offered to assist with alternative accommodation”.
He did not respond to questions about why maintenance issues were not addressed, or why the property was being sold.
