Galway Labour councillor Catherine Connolly has said she is "horrified" at the circumstances surrounding the death of local authority tenant Bríd Cummins.
Commenting after the inquest into Ms Cummins's death yesterday, Ms Connolly said her case had not been dealt with properly and she should have been given a transfer from her accommodation in the first place. "I can't see why she didn't get that transfer," she said.
Ms Connolly was one of several councillors who supported the call by Ms Cummins's family last January for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Galway City Council's handling of her case.
Yesterday, family representatives who attended the hearing said they could not comment on the verdict of the inquest for legal reasons.
However, Ms Angela Harte, sister of Ms Cummins, thanked the coroner, Dr Ciarán MacLoughlin, the gardaí and the "people of Galway" for their overwhelming support. The family had been concerned about Ms Cummins's case as they were aware she was distressed about the unsuccessful outcome of her own legal challenge, which she had initiated over unsuitable accommodation.
Ms Harte said Ms Cummins had felt she was "fighting the battle for people who had little voice, and felt she had let them down when she lost". A letter from the council dated December 2nd, which was found in her house after her death, was "particularly upsetting". It said Ms Cummins wouldn't be housed and there was no emergency housing for her.
Dr MacLoughlin said that how we treated the less well off was a measure of our society. "This person was disabled and had difficulty interacting socially because of her medical situation," he said.
Galway council published a report on the controversy late last year after Ms Cummins's death on December 6th, 2004, at her flat in 5a Munster Avenue.
It claimed officials were taking steps to ensure that Ms Cummins would not become homeless when she was evicted. Two days after her death, it had emerged that the independent organisation for the homeless, Cope, had been directed by the council not to facilitate her.
