A weeping woman who said she has been “walking on eggshells” for years around her “extremely controlling” and abusive partner got an interim barring order against him.The man had alcohol and gambling addictions, had never given her money and she paid all the bills, although they were both working, she said. He timed her when going to and from work, demanded receipts for shopping, criticised what she wore and called her abusive names including “prostitute”. His abuse of her, including making retching sounds when she was eating, was so bad their son bought her earphones to try to drown it out, she said. He “has never been good” with their son, now aged in his 20s, and on one occasion punched him and left him with a black eye, she said. Their car was in her partner’s name, but she was the only one driving it, mainly to get to and from work until he demanded she give him the key and it had not been used since, she said. A friend gave her another car, so she could go to work.[ Family lawyers could withdraw legal aid services within weeks ]“I can’t even watch TV because he controls that. I can’t continue to live like this, the relationship is over and has been for years. I’m afraid to open the front door because I don’t know what is waiting for me,” she told Judge Gerard Furlong at the emergency domestic violence District Court at Dolphin House, Dublin, on Friday.Having noted a long history to the matter and that the woman had sought a protection order in 2007, the judge asked if she had considered seeking a barring order rather than another protection order. When she replied by saying “I don’t know how the law works”, Furlong told her the available options included an interim barring order (IBO), which would mean the man having to leave the house pending the matter returning to court.Now weeping, the woman asked for an IBO, saying: “I want him gone, I’m walking on eggshells all the time.” The judge said the evidence was her life was being “made impossible” and she had depression as a result, so he would grant the IBO.In another of up to 30 applications under the Domestic Violence Act heard at the sitting, a mother got a three-year barring order against her son, aged in his early 40s, over alleged violent behaviour, including punching her teenage grandson and throwing a brick through a bedroom window of her home, shattering glass over her sleeping granddaughters. This type of behaviour had been going on since 2019 and she previously got protection orders over it, the woman said. Her son engaged in “very heavy” use of drink and drugs, she said.The woman had the previous week obtained an IBO ex parte (one side represented) and her son did not attend when the matter returned before the judge on Friday.Two applications before the court were over alleged aggressive and threatening behaviour by adult sons, who are allegedly using synthetic cannabis vapes, which are illegal in Ireland. A mother said her son, aged in his 20s, demanded money on a near-daily basis and was verbally abusive and intimidating. The home environment was “unsafe”, he used drink and drugs, kept knives in his room, had mental health issues and they had found a box of synthetic cannabis vapes there, she said. “There is no peace at all.”In a separate case, a father said his son, also in his 20s, repeatedly threatened him while seeking money for drugs and gambling and had become violent and mentally unstable. His son had a knife in his room and had threatened to use it against him, the man said. His son used synthetic cannabis vapes and was treated in hospital a few years ago due to heavy drug abuse, he said. His son had a mental disability, his problems are due to drug abuse, but he refused all treatment, he said. The situation was causing the family “constant stress”. A woman who said her ex-husband previously “brutally” assaulted her, requiring facial surgery, said she needed protection “urgently” because a two-year safety order was about to expire. The man had continued to “monitor” her, had sent her “intimidating” emails and she was afraid he “could kill me”, she said. The judge granted her protection order application.