A man in Laois gave up his home so a family could have it

"You hear of the homeless around the country and I’m sitting there in a three-bedroom house."

A man in Abbeyleix, Co Laois asked the council to move him to a smaller property so a family on the housing list could have their dreams come true.

Paddy Phelan downsized to a one-bedroom house and is urging older people in social housing to follow his lead.

The 54 year old ex-soldier moved into his home, provided by Respond, in 2006.

Paddy's previous residence/Image Source: respond.ie

He told the Irish Sun that he decided to switch "about a year-and-a-half ago":

"You hear of the homeless around the country and I’m sitting there in a three-bedroom house. I have four daughters, but they’re grown up and gone.

"The house was grand. There’s ­nothing wrong with the house but I was going home in the evening after work...thinking about people crying out for ­family homes and I just said to myself the decent thing to do is to hand this place up to a family and make someone happy."

Paddy, who spent 24 years in the Defence Forces and now works part-time as a caretaker, contacted Respond in Abbeyleix:

"They said the gesture was very nice because they don’t often get that."

He's now moved into a "lovely" one-bedroom maisonette, which is just a few minutes away from his old home.

A young family-of-four, who were waiting seven years for a bigger house, have moved into Paddy's place.

They were previously in a two-bedroom property, which meant their ten-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter had to share a room.