Tag Archives: Inner City Helping Homeless

Tallaght Garda station last night

Homeless family of seven forced to sleep in garda station (RTÉ)

Earlier: The Mask of Sorrow

UPDATE:

This morning.

On RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Miriam O’Callaghan.

Ms O’Callaghan spoke to Anthony Flynn, of Inner City Helping Homeless.

Before starting Ms O’Callaghan said RTE had confirmed that three homeless families, including 16 children, slept in Garda stations last night.

Mr Flynn said:

“Your confirmation on families that slept in Garda stations – those are the families that actually chose to attend the Garda stations last night. The other families didn’t choose. Some may have slept in cars, some of them may have slept with relatives but there was up to eight families last night that were refused accommodation.

“…The pictures have shocked people that have seen them over the last couple of hours, particularly this morning. But this is the norm, Miriam. And people don’t realise that this is the norm.

“Last month, 48 families were referred to Garda stations through the statutory bodies. The month before, 47 families were referred to Garda stations throughout the month through the statutory bodies. And what’s happening is we have an over reliance now on the private hotel sector and B&Bs in order to accommodate families throughout the summer period or indeed through any period of the year.

“The fact is that this over reliance is about to burst. And more and more people are entering Dublin. The hotel trade is booming, you know, tourist trade is booming. The hotels don’t really want these families here any more. It’s a case that they need to be moved on.

“We’ve a papal visit in two weeks’ time. We’ve 500,000 people that are going to enter the country and we have a major fear that this is going to continue to happen over the coming weeks.

“What people need to realise is that this is not uncommon to us, this is stuff that we’ve been seeing and had been forecasted now for a long time in regard to the end of hotel usage or hotels getting busier and not enough hotel space to accommodate people.

“And I suppose last night was just an indictment really on the fact that we’re not moving people out of services quick enough and that 7 young children have to end up sleeping in a garda station last night.”

Ms O’Callaghan later read out a statement she had just received from the Dublin City Council. It said:

“On the night of the 8th of August 2018, an unprecedented number of families presented out of hours, seeking emergency accommodation. We were notified by the family homeless action team that they were actively engaged with 10 families who were unable to source their own accommodation.

“Our central placement team were able to source emergency accommodation for five of those families – one family refused the offer of accommodation, two of their families were linked back into their region and two did not seek further assistance.”

Listen back in full here

UPDATE: “I’m Assuming They’re One Of The Families That Didn’t Seek Further Assistance”

 

This afternoon.

O’Connell Bridge, Dublin 1

Inner City Helping Homeless volunteer Jamie Harrington (with glasses), CEO Anthony Flynn (with beard) and team leader Gerry Carney (white shirt) handing out water, as part of a city-wide programme to ensure homeless people stay hydrated, after Met Eireann issued a status yellow high-temperature warning.

In fairness.

Rollingnews

This morning.

Government Buildings, Merrion Street, Dublin 2

A protest from Inner City Helping Homeless as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and ministers arrive for a Cabinet meeting at the start of the new Dáil term.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

This afternoon.

Connolly Station, Dublin 1

Inner City Helping Homeless volunteers pack a Luas full of Xmas presents in shoeboxes for homeless families in Dublin.

Gifts will be received until 7pm.

Mmf.

Top pic Catherine Devane 

This afternoon.

King Street South, Dublin 2

Inner City Helping Homeless CEO Anthony Flynn (above left) with artist Will St.Leger (right) following the recreation of a room of a type used for emergency accommodation for homeless families in Dublin to highlight the conditions parents and children face for months on end.

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Last night.

Capuchin Day Centre, Arran Quay, Dublin 7

Anthony Flynn from Inner City helping Homeless, writes;

Our 24 hour contingency plan has just ended. What a serious operation put in place all by volunteers.

Big thank you to Brother Kevin and all the staff at the Capuchin Day Centre, Christy Burke, Lifeline Ambulance Service for providing medical support, Damien Farrell and his crew and of course all the dedicated volunteers from Inner City Helping Homeless.

103 homeless individuals were accommodated in total and many more were sheltered through the day with over 700 people fed. Trojan effort from all involved. Serious intervention from the voluntary sector.

Inner City Helping Homeless

Tony Groves

Tony Groves, financial consultant, noted tweeter and Broadsheeet columnist, is taking part in the Dublin City Marathon at the end of the month in aid of Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH).

And YOU can sponsor him.

Tony writes:

There’s over 8,000 people homeless, 3,000 of whom are children. Campaigns like #MyNameIs and the work of the volunteers at Inner City Helping Homeless have helped so many.
Please give whatever you can (at link below). It’s really needed and appreciated.

Marathon fundraiser for ICHH (Gofundme)

 

Anthony Flynn, of Inner City Helping Homeless, and new figures from the Department of Housing

Last night.

Just before the Fine Gael leadership debate in the Red Cow Inn, Dublin.

During which contender and Minister for Housing Simon Coveney said the party needs to represent both “the man in a sleeping bag on Grafton Street tonight as well as the man creating 1,000 jobs”.

The latest homelessness report, for the week April 24-April 30, 2017 from the Department of Housing was released, showing that the number of people who are homeless has reached a new record high of 7,680 – 4972 adults and 2,708 children.

The figure surpassed 7,000 for the first time ever in December 2016.

Further to this…

Last night.

Anthony Flynn, of Inner City Helping Homeless, wrote:

The last number of days have been fairly chaotic when it comes to homelessness. Tuesday in particular, we saw the highest ever recorded number of rough sleepers and a drastic situation of no hotel/B&B accommodation for 12 families.

This led to a frenzy of supports required to be put in place and services increased to cope with demand. A number of families were referred to Garda stations as there was nowhere else to go. One such family had to be accommodated within our offices until supports could be put in place Wednesday morning. Some of those that were affected slept in tents others in cars.

How did we come to this situation?

A lack of short to medium-term planning is the best answer I can give. A complete lack of inter-agency communication and a lack of will from the powers-that-be. The eye has been taken off the ball in regard to homelessness and the long-term planning aspect has left short-term problems. Homelessness has become a crisis right across the State but hasn’t been treated as such. Our volunteers deal with thousands of individuals weekly, many of whom have become lost in a system of ‘no hope’.

I have spent the last four years in a voluntary position within Inner City Helping Homeless; I have met an abundance of people, from homeless to colleagues. I have made some great friends and am privileged to lead an organisation that shows empathy, compassion and is made up of decent human beings.

This week however, I can say that it has been the worst week I have seen within the homeless sector. Up to 30 children refused accommodation, whilst those who are charged with solving our homeless crisis enjoy their evening off.

Families sent from pillar to post in order to be left with no hope, no accommodation and no home. Homeless has become an epidemic, a plague that has spread so wide across our city and state.

Homelessness has become a business, a sector, it cost in excess of €100million a year to operate. To some that means profit, which in turn means that homelessness will remain.
This however should not take away from our responsibilities, people are suffering.

Children are being now left on the streets, a prediction that Father Peter McVerry made only a year ago. Homelessness has become socially acceptable. It has become tolerable to pass somebody by in a doorway, it has become bearable to leave families stuck in hotels, and now, this week, it has become justifiable to leave children without a bed.

Inner City Helping Homeless