Homeless mother sleeping in a tent outside carlow county offices

A homeless single mother has been sleeping in a tent outside the Carlow County offices since Monday night after the local authority stopped paying for her emergency accommodation.

Karen Middleton and her son Luke had been living in a B&B room in Carlow town for the past five weeks. The twenty six year old had earlier this year spent one night in refuge centre in Wexford but the centre only provides longer term lodging to women based in the county. She said she would continue to sleep outside of the Carlow county council offices until the issue was resolved.