Irish Times New to the Parish

CHI Member Hamad spoke to Sorcha Pollak from the Irish Times for her column ‘New to the Parish' in an article published on Wednesday 12th January 2022. Parish’ in an article published on Wednesday 12th January 2022. He told her about settling in Ireland and life in his new CHI home in Dunboyne where he now lives with his wife, Memoona, and their four daughters.

Hamad originally moved to Ireland in 2002 from the city of Sialkot in the Punjab province of Pakistan to work in a friend’s Indian takeaway and restaurant in Laytown, Co Meath, where he worked for almost nine years. He married his wife, who is also from Pakistan, in 2009, but it wasn’t until late 2012 that he got immigration permission for her to join him in Ireland. He was elated and shortly after her arrival, their first daughter was born. Over the following years, the family were renting privately. The family were living in one room in a house-share when their second daughter was born. They started looking for a place to themselves but struggled to find affordable rent. Hammad applied for social housing in 2016 and in 2021, the family were offered a three-bedroom CHI home in Dunboyne via Meath County Council. Hammad and his family were “extremely happy” with their new home and feels lucky that they can now "save money to spend on our daughter's futures instead of spending every penny on rent".

We wish Hammad and his family all the best in their forever home.

Read the full article on the Irish Times website

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