Less Than 50m From The Dáil

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Steve Humphreys tweets:

Homeless man found dead less that 50metres from the seat of power at Dáil Éireann this morning.

Steve Humphreys

Previously: 21-Year-Old Homeless Man Dies In Street Close To Dáil (September 8, 2010)

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68 thoughts on “Less Than 50m From The Dáil

  1. fluffybiscuits

    If we ever needed contrast this is it.

    Homeless man dies probably of hypothermia 50 metres away from those who earn so much money that the thoughts of coming into contact with someone without a home is far removed from their everyday lives.

    Years ago I worked in a state body in Dublin where a homeless man had died of hypothermia. When I said it to the services officer, he just shrugged, I dont care more or less was what he said. The man used to sometimes sleep near where the hot water pipes were so he could keep warm.

    Its upsetting

    1. The People's Hero

      Why would she….? He was probably not ‘working class’ enough….. no votes amiss there, you see…..

          1. brownbull

            considering as party Finance spokesperson she lead the Labour party to vote against the bank guarantee, unlike Sinn Fein, I disagree with you

        1. Clampers Outside!

          It’s an IW related dig, I’d say, and a fare one seeing as she has demonstrated over and over again over the last few months through her own comments that she is completely for the birds and out of touch with the reality of what the hardest pressed in this country face…. and many of those are the ones most under threat of being homeless.

          So yeah, it’s a relevant enough dig, I’d say.

          She also appears for photo opportunities at the OPENING of soup kitchens, not the closing of them… make of that what you will.

          1. The People's Hero

            All very presumptuous…. It’s not and IW dig at all. It’s a hyper-critique at the nature of politics in Ireland. There are few – if any – traditional party-political TDs in the Dail that two fcuks about this poor fella. Joan Burton and Labour included. Once elected, all they pretty much care about is their re-election – and the homeless are useless to them for that. No address? No polling card.

            How’s that for presumption?

  2. Dubloony

    The social housing is needed but there an’t going to be keys in the door 18 months -2 years for the first batch.
    In the meantime, what’s the plan for poor guys like this? The amount of people I see in door ways every day is sad. Many of them are very young.

    1. Jock

      These people aren’t homeless because of housing policies. They are in that position from a combination of mental illness and addiction

      1. Atticus

        So you’re essentially answering your previous question then.

        From here (https://www.broadsheet.ie/2014/11/25/the-media-and-the-water-protests/)

        “-Communities have been faced with a string of cuts over 2008-2014, including:
        -Violence against women programme: -38.2%
        -Women’s organisations: -48.7%
        -Projects for youth: -44.1%
        -Community development: -43.6%
        -Voluntary social housing: -50.0%
        -Drugs programmes: -37.0%
        -Family Support Agency: -32.5%”

        Add that to the cuts in Mental Health services over the past few years.

        Question answered?

        1. Kolmo

          Some of the above services were run on a shoestring and on a semi-voluntary basis even before the economic failure, what hope have they now of providing a reasonable service.

          As long as the banks get paid. Everyone else in society gets f*kt.

      2. scottser

        ‘these people’ are homeless for a variety of reasons, not just addiction or mental health. statistically you’re more likely to enter homelessness due to relationship breakdown (if you’re male) or be subject to notice to quit from a landlord. however, you’re more likely to stay in homeless services longer, or repeat present to homeless services if you have an addiction or poor mental health.

  3. Jock

    What does the proximity to the Dail have to do with this tragic incident. He died in the city centre beside tons of notable landmarks.

    1. Grouse

      It doesn’t make any real difference whether a homeless person died 50m from the Dáil or anywhere else in the Republic of Ireland. Anywhere should hold equal importance. But there is certain black irony to it that captures the imagination. The idea that TDs might have been working late, heated and well-fed, ignoring their powers to help the homeless while a man died 50m away. It affects us.

      Many of the great catalysts of history have been photographs or essays that describe the plight of a single individual in a sea of similarly suffering ones. This event feels a little like that. It draws contrasts that make us feel something more than we would if the location were different.

      I guess.

        1. Frilly Christmas Everyone*

          Of all the çüñt5 arsing around the internets.

          You, by far, are the biggest one

          You are why there will be 200, 000 plus marching on the 10th.

          Bring in on

          Its over
          There is no way back

        2. Grouse

          Hotels aren’t the government, of course. They do not exist for the wellbeing of the nation’s citizens.

          I tried to be open and honest in my reply to your question, but you seem to have a strange attitude about this. Why does it bother you that people are upset about this death?

          1. Jock

            People are blaming his death on the government which irritates me. See Frilly’s call for a revolution nonsense above.

          2. Grouse

            I find some of the “we’re coming for you Fine Gael” rhetoric a bit ridiculous, but I certainly would like more to be done to treat mental illness and assist those who are homeless in this country. I would be happy for a lot more government funding to go in that direction.

          3. Spartacus

            You’re irritated? A man has died on the streets of our capital city, almost certainly through our neglect, and you’re irritated? You vile apology for a human being.

    1. scottser

      the cold weather initiative has kicked in now that the ground temperature has hit 0. there are an extra 300 odd beds available through the freephone 1800 707 707. also, if you see anyone bedded down you can report it at homelessdublin.ie – just follow the links to ‘report a rough sleeper’ and an outreach team can take over from there.

    1. Rep

      The 21 year old was from 4 years ago. This guy was in his 40s. Not that that makes much of a difference tbf.

  4. Spaghetti Hoop

    A 21 year old, regardless of whether he was sleeping rough or not would be generally fit and healthy unless there are unhealthy lifestyle choices.
    What did he die of?
    No news report has confirmed it to be hypothermia.
    Was he offered a shelter for the night?
    Facts first please.

    1. Spielberger

      Are you seriously going down the unhealthy lifestyle choices road? Really? The guy this morning wasn’t 21 but sleeping rough can absolutely ravage a person’s health even if they don’t take drugs/drink/do anything that you consider unhealthy. And even if they do, does that mean them dying out in the cold on a doorstep isn’t less tragic?

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        Okay – I apologise – I must have misread that he was 21.
        Either way, too many are assuming here that he died from the cold and that he was on his way to the Dáil or something. Are we absolutely sure that he died because he had nowhere to live?

        1. Spielberger

          Mistaking his age is not what you should be apologising for. I’m sure he wouldn’t choose to sleep on a doorstep if he had another choice. Services for homeless people are absolutely swamped and free beds fill up so quickly every day with families and children being given priority, quite rightly.

          “Are we absolutely sure he died because he had nowhere to live?” No, not absolutely sure, but we can be absolutely sure that it’s tragic that he was homeless and died on the street.

          1. Spaghetti Hoop

            It is tragic. Yes the homeless crisis is a critical one – I’ve never seen it so bad. But there is currently no proof that being homeless is the reason why this man is dead.

          2. Alfred E. Neumann

            Spielberger, I think you’re arguing with someone who is pretty much on the same side as you. Spag is asking for facts before reaching conclusions, and that’s pretty admirable.

            Your certainty that “[people] wouldn’t choose to sleep on a doorstep if [they] had another choice” is misguided. Some people live on the streets for reasons other than not having the rent. It’s a disservice to the complexity of the problem, and the reality of those people’s lives, to assert otherwise.

  5. Eamonn Clancy

    And it’s supposed to be more relevant than, let’s say, the arsehole of a lane off Thomas St? Get down off the cross, we need the wood.

  6. Insertus

    The last few weeks in Irish politics have been deeply troubling. The Taoiseach’s reaction to moderately positive economic indicators was to promise tax breaks to the higher paid while the Tánaiste opened a food bank in Cork and somehow spun it as a positive news story about alleviating waste – by feeding it to the marginalised. Also, the labour market has apparently reached an acceptable level because now ‘only’ 1 in 10 of us is unemployed. I wonder if emigration or job creation was a bigger factor in that.

    Today I foolishly listened to Morning Ireland only to hear a really depressing story about shipping containers being turned into housing units where the a man on the vox pop ventured that this ‘would be an ideal starter home’. No matter how many solar panels and renders you put on it, a shipping container is a shipping container and it wasn’t acceptable as a housing solution in 1960s Northern Ireland and it shouldn’t be acceptable today either.

    Basically, we’re working to grow the income inequality gap where some of us will have to live on food handouts and live in ‘luxury’ shanty towns while the figures keep telling us we’re all doing grand, shut up and watch the toy show and spend every penny this Christmas and don’t be thinking about how broke you’ll be in January and how not one lesson has been learned nationally after all this time.

    The ‘Celtic Phoenix’ is a tide that is certainly not rising all boats and some of us are drowning while the news, the politicians, and the prices in shops, are telling us it’s time to resurrect that Arctic Spa hottub you bought with your SSIAs and party like it’s 2004. The first item on the news this morning told me it was ‘Cyber Monday’ and I should start my Christmas shopping. Since when is that a thing?

    I really hope the guy who was found dead wasn’t the lovely old man who would sit up in his sleeping bag and sing at passers by and always be causing Ursula Halligan to move when he’d be getting in the back of her reports. He was a character and a charmer, I really hope it wasn’t him.

    Rant over and I hope this doesn’t distract from what is someone’s personal tragedy. I’m just a bit sick of the way this kip is heading and how glib the soundbites have become.

    1. Rep

      I went to that shipping container thing in IMMA. It was actually quite impressive tbf. I had thought they had said it could alleviate the housing crisis in that those who are homeless could be housed in these places short-term, didn’t realise that it was also an idea for first time buyers. That said, many countries make homes out of these already. There was also a Grand Designs on it where some lad in NI made a lovely house using them.

      The shipping container house made in IMMA over the weekend: https://www.facebook.com/RIPPLEcontainerhomes/photos_stream

      The fancy dan one from grand designs: http://www.pb-architects.com/completed-photos/

        1. Frilly Christmas Everyone*

          Well there was a lad on Cribs and his gaff was a half a dozen or maybe more of em stacked and dolled up in a type of courtyard footprint. Glass walkway landings n everything.

          Seriously. My dream house.

    2. Medium Sized C

      Shipping containers are acceptable housing materials.
      I don’t know what the 1960s reference is, but I would suggest that you get your head into 2014, because its not the 1960s.

      People are building better houses out of shipping containers than you will most likely ever live in.
      It should also be pointed out that this was not a political issue, it was an issue of industry posing creative and workable solutions to a housing shortage.
      If you lack the perspective to separate political activity from industrial activity,
      you lack the perspective to research a proposed building method before criticising it
      and you lack the perspective to appreciate the advances in building technology since the 1960s,
      then I would suggest that you, at least, do actually shut up and watch the toy show.

      1. Insertus

        I did watch the toy show. Ryan had some lovely Christmas jumpers but the theme of the last few years of only showcasing affordable toys has vanished. Increased consumer spending, black fridays, cyber Mondays, and a Debenhams gift card are not going to make things any better in Ireland if we don’t commit to the principle that recovery should benefit the person sleeping in a doorway before it gives tax cuts to those on higher incomes.

        I’ll admit I’m a committed cynic but I’m afraid the shipping container thing really got to me. They look lovely but that’s not the point. Call me on it if I’m proved wrong but they will not solve the housing crisis. They’re top end, solar paneled, boutique bijou accommodation for those wishing to feel snug and smug at the same time (and that is not to detract from the obvious innovative flair in their design. I’m 100% confident that they’re warmer than where I live considering it’s a building built in the ’30s from breeze blocks.

        I’m sure the containers will make a great footage on an episode of ‘About the House’ or ‘Eco Eye’ but it will not solve the housing crisis because it’s a band-aid on a gaping, hemorrhaging wound. There were 3,808 homeless people in the last homelessness census. That means, even at the ‘economies of scale’ estimate of €20,000 for these container units, you would need €76,000,000 to pay for them. It’s a lovely press release but it’s an impractical solution to the homelessness crisis (never mind the broader housing crisis). What we’re being asked to do here is to think of quirky, trendy solutions and forget that NAMA holds the largest portfolio of land and property in Europe which it refuses to let go of until the price (and the buyer) is right.

        Finally, to the point about 1960s Norn Iron, when people were suffering acutely from the housing crisis there, they were put in temporary accommodation in Nissen huts on decommissioned US Airbases outside of Derry pending finding a more permanent solution. Surprise surprise, the temporary solution wasn’t so temporary. When I heard them today advocating shipping containers it just struck me as oh so familiar.

        As much as I’d love to give a preachy history lesson about Civil Rights and its origins in a housing crisis, I’ll leave it to Terry Prone’s husband to do it for me: http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1031-civil-rights-movement-1968-9/1032-caledon-protest/319335-caledon-civil-rights-campaign/

        1. Rep

          You’re right, unless it is an idea which will definitively once and for all solve the homeless issue and not just be an good idea that just might make life slightly more comfortable for people who need it most, they really are just better of doing nothing.

      2. Anne

        “It should also be pointed out that this was not a political issue, it was an issue of industry posing creative and workable solutions to a housing shortage.”

        Not a political issue? Hmmm, if you say so.

        “then I would suggest that you, at least, do actually shut up and watch the toy show.”
        You’re an awful knob.

    3. Daniel J

      Thanks for that post-sums up my thinking after hearing that daft Morning Ireland piece earlier :)

  7. JunkFace

    This is Ireland in the 21st Century, with the capital Dublin, going through one of the worst housing crisis in its history.

    But the Government don’t give a damn about the poor and the newly made homeless, its their lack of vision and planning ahead with regards to social housing and Rent control that made this situation get this bad. The Irish Government ONLY care about the Money, how are Economy is doing, what’s our reputation in the EU. That’s it! The citizens are pawns to pay the bills in their millions, the homeless and poor are expendable. And the homeless don’t vote.

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