“One of the worst things that happened to me since coming to Ireland is looking for accommodation.”
A woman from Italy has described searching for accommodation as “one the worst things that has happened” to her since coming to Ireland.
Chantelle spoke about her experience of coming to the country on The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk on Wednesday morning (23 February).
The Italian moved to Dublin following a career change in October of 2021.
She joined several Facebook groups for those seeking housemates in the city to find a place to stay before she arrived.
“I just received I don’t know how many weird replies from weird people,” Chantelle said.
“I saw maybe 20 accomodations with crazy prices and no contracts, which is unfair to me because I need to be sure.
“There were weird tenants, and after that, I remember it was my last week looking for accomodation and I was really upset.
“I just received three messages from three weird people asking for sex in lieu of rent.”
The first one to message her offered to let her stay in a box room along with him in exchange for sex.
“He sent pictures of himself totally naked,” Chantelle added.
“The second one asked me to share the room together and to be my boyfriend.
“The third one, that was so weird, he asked me for 200 in lieu of ‘fun’ because that’s all he wanted was ‘fun'”.
Chantelle’s friends both at home and abroad couldn’t believe that something like this could happen in Ireland
“I just came in October to start a new life, and a new opportunity, with new challenges that we bring from our country and a place like Ireland can provide a better future, but I couldn’t even imagine what had happened to me”
“One of the worst things that happened to me since coming to Ireland is looking for accommodation”
Chantelle believes that there are some landlords and tenants that look to take advantage of people coming overseas to Ireland due to their vulnerable situation.
The prevalence of false identities and fake accounts on Facebook makes tracking the perpetrators down so much harder, which is why Chantelle never went to Gardaí with her stories.
She finally has satisfactory accommodation with a landlady and a contract to confirm her tenancy.
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