Tag Archives: Homeless man

The scene where a homeless man suffered life-changing injuries after the tent he was sleeping in was removed by an “industrial vehicle” on January 14

Last night.

The Irish Mirror reported that a Garda investigation is continuing into the incident in which a homeless man suffering life-changing injuries while his tent was being removed from along the Grand Canal at lunchtime on January 14.

The man’s tent was being removed as part of works carried out by Waterways Ireland, which is responsible for maintenance of the canal, and Dublin City Council.

The Irish Mirror article is the first media update on the incident since the week it occurred.

The only other update came from Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar who spoke about the man during RTÉ’s Prime Time TV leaders’ debate days before the election, saying:

“We’ve been in touch with that gentleman, a housing plan is being put in place for him. Thankfully his condition, he is stable and he has asked for privacy and I don’t want to make him an issue in this debate.”

Last night, the Irish Mirror reported:

Gardaí are tracking down homeless people and pedestrians who were nearby when a man suffered life-changing injuries as he was crushed by a council lorry lift.

Detectives are piecing together the movements of the city council workers and taking statements as they gather evidence for a potential endangerment probe.

They have already taken statements from city-council-led Dublin Regional Homeless Executive outreach workers and Waterways Ireland employees.

Gardai tracking down people who were near Dublin canal when homeless man was crushed by council machinery (Irish Mirror)

Previously: “Those Tents, They Couldn’t Remain There. It Wasn’t Safe For Them”

“The Lord Mayor Should Make A Statement”



From top: At Leeson Street Bridge, along the Grand Canal, this morning where a man was seriously injured after his tent was removed by ‘heavy machinery’ on Tuesday afternoon; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar canvassing in Cavan yesterday

This morning.

The man who was seriously injured when the tent he was sleeping in was removed from the Leeson Street Bridge area along the Grand Canal on Tuesday afternoon remains in a serious condition.

Meanwhile, last night.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was at a joint press conference with the new EU Commissioner president Ursula von der Leyen when he said he never tried to make the incident involving the man a party political matter.

Daniel McConnell, in The Irish Examiner, quotes Mr Varadkar saying:

“In terms of what the lord mayor has to say, I have never sought to make homelessness a party political issue.”

“…No, I didn’t mention blame at all. I think it is reasonable that the lord mayor of Dublin, who is politically accountable for Dublin City Council, should also make a statement. I am sure he would be willing to do that.”

Earlier, yesterday evening.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin and Fianna Fáil general election candidate, Paul McAuliffe did release a statement about the matter.

It followed the Taoiseach’s call for him to do so as, the Fine Gael leader claimed, Mr McAuliffe is “politically responsible for the council”.

Mr McAuliffe said:

“I was disappointed that the Taoiseach went down this road today.

“A man was seriously injured and yet An Taoiseach appeared to be more interested in apportioning blame to someone else.

“Waterways Ireland carried out the works this morning. Officials from the Dublin Regional Housing Executive (DRHE) were on the scene to support any homeless people with accessing accommodation.

“I understand due to the precarious location of the tent, Waterways Ireland decided to make use of a mechanical vehicle. All of these details will now be the subject of a Garda investigation.

“There may be an election ongoing at the present but a human being has been seriously injured this morning.

“That was my first concern when I heard about it, and I wanted to find out the details and so I have asked for a full report.

“It seems that the Taoiseach’s first thought was to play a political game.”

Varadkar: ‘I didn’t politicise homeless man’s injuries’ (Daniel McConnell, The Irish Examiner)

Previously: “The Lord Mayor Should Make A Statement”

At Leeson Street Bridge [Updated]

Top pic: Liveline

Rollingnews


From top: The spot where a man was seriously injured when a tent he was sleeping in was removed by an ‘industrial vehicle’; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar launching Fine Gael’s election campaign at CombiLift in Monaghan today

Earlier today.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other members of Fine Gael launched the party’s general election campaign at CombiLift in Monaghan.

During the launch, Mr Varadkar was asked by reporters about the homeless man who suffered ‘life-changing injuries’ when the tent in which he was sleeping was removed by Dublin City Council/Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and Waterways Ireland near Leeson Street Bridge, along the Grand Canal yesterday at lunchtime.

An “industrial vehicle” was reportedly being used to remove the man’s tent.

Mr Varadkar initially said he was “loathe” to comment on individual cases “until we know all the facts” before he called on Dublin’s Lord Mayor and city councillor Paul McAuliffe to make a statement.

He said Mr McAuliffe is “politically responsible for the council”.

Mr McAuliffe is also a general election candidate in Dublin North West where Fine Gael’s Noel Rock is hoping to retain his seat.

Mr Varadkar told journalists:

“My understanding is that the city council and Waterways Ireland did check the tents before moving them but obviously something went wrong here.

“So I think it’s important that, you know, the city council and, you know, the Lord Mayor, whose politically responsible for the city council, should make a statement, and Waterways Ireland too.

“But the most important thing is that we wish him a speedy recovery.

“He is known to homeless services, has been offered accommodation in the past, will be offered accommodation in the future.

“We’ll do everything we can to reduce rough sleeping.

“I remember when we took over the housing department about three-and-a-half years ago, there were over 160 people sleeping rough on our streets in Dublin, that’s now down around 92.”

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

UPDATE:

Earlier: At Leeson Street Bridge (Updated)

Pic: Andrew Lowth

Ray Lloyd

Sylvia Pownall, in the Dublin Gazette, reports:

An ex-soldier who was made homeless has been forced to sleep in his car – outside the very house he used to rent, which has lain vacant since it was sold to the council.

Ray Lloyd (44) is pleading for a roof over his head and says he can’t take much more of living in his clapped-out Fiat Punto, which is parked in an estate in Mulhuddart.

He was given notice to quit by his landlord, who is a relative, on May 18 after he decided to sell the property to Fingal County Council. Ray has been living in his car ever since…

Nightmare life for Ray, rough slewing in car after being made homeless (The Dublin Gazette)

Pic: Dublin Gazette

Outside Superdry, Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 this morning

A 51-year-old man sleeping rough outside Superdry on Suffolk Street, Dublin 1, was found dead early this morning.

The man’s name has not yet been released.

The Irish Sun reports:

CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless, Anthony Flynn, said more needs to be done to help get rough sleepers off the streets.

He said: “This was a tragic but preventable accident. Dublin’s rough sleeper crisis is out of control with our outreach teams last week reporting the highest ever number of rough sleepers on one night.”

“The individual slept on Suffolk Street whilst 44 beds lay empty in Wolfe Tone Quay last night.”

“Immediate emergency measures must are required now to tackle the rough sleeper crisis. I’m calling on the Minister to immediately open empty beds, this is not the first and will not be the last death on our streets.”

Homeless man dies outside Superdry in Dublin with gardai sealing off the scene (Lauren Kelly, The Irish Sun)

Meanwhile…

Previously: Look After Your Friends

Pic: Sunday World

stephensgreen

St Stephen’s Green Park, Dublin

Aisling Kennedy, in the Dublin Gazette, reports:

A young man was found dead in St Stephen’s Green park [in the wooden gazebo in the middle of the park] on Monday morning. An investigation is currently under way to find out the cause of his death.

The man, who has yet to be named by gardai, was 30 years old and it is believed that he was sleeping rough in the park. He was found at 9.15am on Monday, April 25.

Sinead Kane, a founding member of Hope in the Darkness, which offers food to the homeless outside the GPO on O’Connell Street four nights a week, said she received a phone call on Monday morning from a man who regularly accesses her food service.

She said: “He was very upset and he was crying. He said that he had just found a man dead in the park.”

Sinead said that the man, who doesn’t want to be named, rang her following the discovery.

He had just visited his local pharmacy to collect medication on his prescription but he was told he would have to wait 20 minutes for it.

“He went over to the park to have a smoke in St Stephen’s Green and he said he was sitting on the wall and just happened to look over to see a man lying on the ground clutching a sleeping bag.

“He shouted over: ‘Hey buddy, you ok?’ and he got no response. He went over to him, but he knew when he saw him that he was already gone.”

Sinead said that the man called an ambulance straight away and he called for help from people passing by on their way into work.

“Nobody helped him. People just turned their back and kept going about their business, they wouldn’t stop to help.”

…Meanwhile, in a further blow to the homelessness crisis, two homeless shelters are set to close in the next fortnight, forcing up to 150 people to return to living on the streets.

The 42-bed John’s Lane West hostel, which is jointly managed by Peter McVerry Trust and Focus Ireland, is set to close on May 9 to make way for social housing construction.

The 100-bed Bru Aimsir hostel at the Digital Hub on Thomas Street, which is run by Dublin City Council, is also due to close this Saturday, April 31.

Homeless man dies in St Stephen’s Green (Dublin Gazette)

Earlier: The Big Bang Theory

Update:

“In reference to the media coverage of a man tragically found deceased in St. Stephen’s Green, it is requested to refrain from reference to this person as homeless. In deference to the family and friends of this man, in this time of their loss, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive notes that there is no record of this man’s involvement in Homeless Services, or seeking homeless services on the night he passed away.”

Cathal Morgan, Dublin City Council.

Screen Shot 2015-10-12 at 09.20.47

 

Further to the death of a homeless man outside Starbucks on Westmoreland Street, above, early yesterday morning…

Conor Lally, in today’s Irish Times, reports:

“Gardaí believe he had been dead for a number of hours and revellers who passed him in the early hours of Sunday may not have realised he was dead. Garda sources said because the remains of the 10 victims of the fire at a halting site in Carrickmines required postmortems by the State Pathologist’s Office, it could be several days before the cause of the man’s death was established. However, they said one line of inquiry was that he might have died of a drugs overdose.”

“The fatality is the second among the homeless community in the city centre in the past fortnight, with another man who had been sleeping rough off Dawson Street in the south inner city found dead on September 25th.”

Meanwhile readers may also recall that, on the evening of Tuesday, October 6, the group Inner City Helping Homeless reported that one of their service users died earlier that morning from pneumonia.

This would indicate three homeless people have died in 17 days.

Latest homeless death leads to call for ‘state of emergency’ (Irish Times)

Previously: ‘He Died Of Pneumonia’

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