Tag Archives: Homelessness

90363985Paudie Coffey this afternoon

The Government hopes to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016, according to Minister of State Paudie Coffey.
He was speaking before meeting more than 50 delegates involved in the sector with Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly to explore measures to alleviate the Dublin homelessness crisis. Fine Gael and Labour previously made a commitment to end homelessness in their Programme for Government. The term of the current Coalition will end in March 2016 at the latest.

Coalition repeats pledge to end homelessness, as forum starts (Olivia Kelly, Irish Times)

Meanwhile, four years ago:

The government will tomorrow publish a four-year strategy to eliminate long-term homelessness against a backdrop of claims from voluntary groups that homeless people are being turned away from services due to funding shortages.
About 40 key services for homeless people which were due to come on stream this year have been shelved due to a funding freeze imposed by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Homeless agencies in Dublin and Cork say they are turning away dozens of homeless people as a result of their emergency beds being used to capacity.
Despite the lack of funding available to develop new services, the Government is due to publish a new strategy aimed at eliminating long-term homelessness by ensuring homeless people are not in emergency accommodation, such as shelters or BBs, for longer than six months.

Plan to end homelessness to be unveiled as funding freeze bites (Irish Times , August 20, 2008) -behind paywall

Good times.

Update:

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The homeless summit this afternoon from left at Paudie Coffey (right), Community and Local Government, Alen Kelly TD, John McCarthy, Department General Secretary, Shirley Groarke, Principle Officer for Homelessness at Department, Annette O’Donnell, Dublin’s Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson, Lynn Glanville, and Paul Reed, Fingal Chief Executive, at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

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A Homeless man in Molesworth Street, Dublin

Dan Boyle writes:

The death of homeless man a stone’s throw from Leinster House will give many pause for thought. No doubt it will be raised there as the political football of the day. That may create some rethink on releasing some small additional resources, but soon again, I fear, the issue of homelessness will be as intractable as it has ever seemed to be.

While a member of the Oireachtas I was aware of about a dozen similar perches within five hundred meters of Leinster House. It wouldn’t be fair to suggest there was or has been there any indifference. When being lobbied, speaking with homeless charities, their frustration was obvious at the lack of any co-ordinated approach to the issue.

Each homeless person lives a unique life. There may be factors in common such as addiction, mental health or economic need but all combine differently to define the circumstances of each homeless person.

The homeless man I remember on Molesworth Street (given the length of time I hope not the same person) would spend his waking time at the same spot shouting abuse at whoever passed by. It didn’t really matter who was being shouted at, on the law of averages by walking down that street you had to be a person with some influence and a certain degree of responsibility.

Then why the passivity of the political system? Why because to those to whom the political system is the narrow mechanism of getting and staying elected, it is not seen to be an issue ‘that had votes in it’.
That observation may add to further cynicism in which politics itself is held, however, it does reflect a sentiment that is found in wider Irish society.

The political agenda is set by those who shout loudest and produce the largest numbers. It is an agenda that has been largely untouched by the issue of homelessness because it is believed that for most people, it has been put into a metaphorical box marked ‘It Doesn’t Affect Me’.
Each of us not only has a responsibility to give homelessness the importance it deserves, but also to further question how we have developed a society where issues of homelessness have been kept on the periphery, while issues of far less significance have preoccupied us.

If we are to be angry let us be angry at this.

Dan Boyle is a former TD and Senator and member of the Green Party.

Dan Boyle (Facebook)

Previously: Less Than 50 Metres From The Dáil

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

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Fr Peter McVerry of the Peter McVerry Trust

Fr Peter McVerry spoke to Jonathan Healy on Newstalk Lunchtime in the last hour, following on the death of the homeless man on Molesworth Street in Dublin – just metres from Leinster House.

Peter McVerry: “Unfortunately cattle and sheep are more important to our economy than homeless people. We have a homeless crisis that is not being addressed. There is absolutely no sense of urgency on the part of the Government to address this problem and it’s going to get worse. I mean now, I have a situation, the first time ever in my industry where you have whole families sleeping on the street. I’m aware of one family, they’ve put their children into care and the parents are sleeping on the streets. They didn’t want their children sleeping on the street but there was no accommodation available, they had to put their children into care. I think this winter we will see people, homeless people, dying. I think, to be honest, the majority of homeless people dying this winter are going to die from suicide because I have people coming in to me who are suicidal, extremely depressed, saying, ‘I can’t take this anymore and I don’t see anyway out’. I’m told, three nights out of four, I’m told, ‘there’s no beds available, you’ll have to sleep on the street’ and I don’t see any way out of this. So they’re absolutely at the end of their, they’ve given up hope.”

Jonathan Healy: “Peter you’ve worked in the area for a number of years. We know, I mean, I’ve been out with you, we’ve spoken in the past, that, during the boom, if you were homeless, there would be other issues at play, such as alcohol, drugs, very common amongst the homeless community, if we’re to call it that. What’s different about this particular type of crisis. I want to move away from the immediate case we’re talking about; is it a different type of challenge that we’re facing now? And if so, why?”

McVerry: “It is. The majority of people who are becoming homeless today are becoming homeless because they’re being thrown out of private rented accommodation because the rents have gone through the roof. Focus Ireland tells us there 45 families last month, they usually deal with 8 families a month, this year they’ve dealt with an average of 40 families per month, and last month it was 45. And out of those 45 families, I understand 41 of them have been evicted from their rented accommodation. Not for anti-social behaviour, not because they were drinking, not because they didn’t pay the rent but because they couldn’t pay the rent. So the people who are becoming homeless today have never been homeless before, they never for one moment in their lives ever thought that they would be homeless and they just find the situation absolutely intolerable. It’s a whole…they’ve never been in this situation before and they’re absolutely horrified to find themselves in this situation, particularly if they have children.”

Listen back here.

Spotted on Store Street, Dublin 1.

Related: Prefabs may be used to tackle housing crisis in Dublin (Kitty Holland, Irish Times)

Previously: The New Homeless


Russell Pritchard Photography

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This afternoon.

Enda Kenny on his way to the Hibernian Royal Club, Dawson Street, Dublin becomes embroiled in a discussion with a man (who gave his name as Noel Gahan) who asked: “What are you going to do about the homeless?”

Hot heckler is hot.

Taoiseach heckled by protestor over the homeless crisis (Paraic Gallagher, Newstalk)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall ireland)

Meanwhile, in The Shelbourne after the ‘walk’..

Three Bressies!

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The aftermath of a sleepover in support of homeless people outside the offices of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council today..

More than 4,000 families are on the housing list in the borough.

Tent dwellers included pic 1 (l-r) Sara O’Rourke, Lola Hynes and Avril Callaghan Steven Bennett (Pic1) , Melissa Evans (Pic 3) and People Before Profit  TD Richard Boyd Barrett (bottom pic).

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

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Labour party leader and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore (top with government press secretary Cathy Madden) and Brendan Howlin (above) this morning before a cabinet meeting in government buildings, Merrion Street, Dublin.

“The Public Expenditure Minister says all State agencies will be asked to contribute property for use as emergency housing, where appropriate. Brendan Howlin was speaking on the way into this morning’s Cabinet meeting, where the Housing Minister’s plan to get rid of long-term homelessness by 2016 will dominate the agenda.”

All State agencies will help provide emergency accommodation – Minister (Newstalk)

However

Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin has indicated that the Government will not increase rent allowance levels to address the housing problem.

Howlin indicates rent allowance levels will not be increased (RTE)

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)