24 thoughts on “Xmas Wreath

    1. TheBeef

      A 43 year old man died alone on the street in our capital city. If I agree with you that he ‘chose’ to live on the streets, isn’t that very sad in itself? Plus, exactly who are you to determine what the correct level of sympathy is in this situation? Is there some sympathometer you can refer me to?

  1. Eamonn Clancy

    Here’s what we’re not really supposed to ask; what do homeless people do with their dole (yes, they get dole)? They have no rent, gas, electricity bills.

    1. Hashtag Diversity

      Of course not. Particularly when they’ve sold two houses. He wasn’t homeless. He was houseless.

    1. Kieran NYC

      From the Dail, I presume.

      Because they can’t just mourn someone who died, they have to get a ‘dig’ in at the same time.

      1. Atticus

        And why not? They government have just announced today that they are to put €25m into a plan to tackle homelessness, with Alan Kelly saying that it is not about the money, it never was, it’s about tackling the homeless problem. A big €25m sticky plaster until everybody forgets about the problem, and then as you were. They only do stuff when they’re put under pressure to do so.

        1. Kieran NYC

          Have a go at the government about the homelessness problem all you want, just don’t pull a cheap shot at the place where the man died to do so.

          Leave the politics out of that one square metre – not too much to ask.

          1. Anne

            Leave the politics out of that one square metre – not too much to ask.

            You should have had a word with Enda.. out during the week at night doing a meet and greet of the homeless he was. Yep, just this week gone by.

            Call my cynical, but you were talking about cheap shots…

          2. Anne

            You can imagine the guff out of him.. ‘bit of a nip in the air there all right to be sure. Are you from around here young fella? You’re not, are ya now.
            Smile now for the cameras, like a good young chap der and I’ll sort cha out

  2. Yea, Ok

    This death was not strictly because of homelessness, and the political points scoring on all sides is disgusting. This man was given lots of help from family and friends, including two houses that he sold. The cause of his death was addiction, which is just as awful and serious a problem as homelessness. To use this as a reason to take digs at the government is reprehensible – if he died up in Cabra or off O’Connell St. no one in the media or politics would give a sh!te.

    As an aside, surely the way we treat homelessness is all wrong here? It was announced the day after this broke that €4m was granted to keep homeless shelters in Dublin going through Christmas. The figures for people on the streets range from 112-170… Why does it cost so much to shelter such a small number? We should be able to house them comfortably and permanently for that kind of money!

    1. Niamh

      That money also has to cover building rental and maintenance, food, staffing (24-hour to protect and manage residents), addiction and recovery treatment/plans, professional staff trained in social policy, social work, health and safety, psychology, child protection, etc., who will work night shifts and over Xmas, and who will go into the streets to work in the fields. Consider medical expenses, laundry, electricity and heating bills, the children involved, the time taken brokering child protection issues and trying to keep families together, the handling of the fallout from addiction, illness, and mental health problems, and many other overheads. It’s not just about providing shelter, it is also about dealing with the ongoing fallout from a number of pretty specific social ills – the inheritance of Ireland’s care system (industrial schools, borstals, trafficking), child abuse and volatile or damaging family situations, huge poverty, drug pushing and addiction, no proper state rehab provision, ex-army trauma cases, survivors of incest and violence, the list goes on. These issues are often at the root of ‘voluntary’ and involuntary homelessness and make it difficult to police, since there needs to be a more extensive and joined-up process of dealing with these many related problems before people are beyond help and have totally fallen out of society due to their experiences and problems. Recently Childline’s funding has been cut: how many damaged children will grow up to be addicts, homeless, without a family, unable to get their life together, as a result of being neglected in violent and abusive situations, because the state won’t pay for weekend social workers and things like Childline? Austerity measures will create long-term unemployment and low morale, leading to mental health problems, addiction, and to people becoming outcast. It’s all connected.

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