A pregnant woman who was living in a tent admitted she “bawled crying” after Dublin Live helped get her off the streets.
Cassie Murphy, 29, who had been camped in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, ran a hot bath in her own ensuite hotel bedroom yesterday.
The Simon Community got in touch with the mum-to-be after Dublin Live reporter Trevor Quinn revealed she had been in a freezing tent for five months.
She was terrified for her baby’s health if she had remained there until the tot’s due date in May.
Cassie, from Coolock, was told by Dublin Region Homeless Executive that she and partner Christopher Evans would wait a year for a couple’s bed.
But after Dublin Live's expose, the Simon Community handed her the keys to a double ensuite room at the Bonnington Hotel – formerly the Regency – and told her she could stay there “after her baby is born”.
Cassie said: “I just bawled crying. I felt so relieved I’d have somewhere safe to have my baby. I was terrified I’d go into labour in the street. I heard a story about a girl who went into labour in Dublin. I kept going, ‘Will that be me?’
“Before coming here, Simon gave us a hostel for a few nights but we had to leave every morning at 9am and weren’t allowed back in until 8pm.
“Only when I got here yesterday I believed it was real.
“As soon as I came in I ran a bath but I fell asleep without having the bath. I felt normal.
“I can’t thank Trevor enough. I didn’t want to tell my story at first as I knew I would be judged but I did it as it’s not just for me – how many more people does this have to happen to?”
